


Frozen Heart

by CushionySiren3



Category: RWBY
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/F, Season/Series 01, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-05-10 02:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14728139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CushionySiren3/pseuds/CushionySiren3
Summary: Weiss has been acting peculiar lately and it's beginning to affect her team, and Ruby most of all. Everyone grows wary as Team RWBY begins to fall apart and resentment grows, but naturally not all is as it seems.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions - or whatever the hell they're called - please support the official release. I encourage you to share honest reviews.

The morning sun began to slowly crawl through the curtains and bring a curious beauty to the dorm that housed the four members of team RWBY. As the light inched its way across the room it soon began to pour onto the face of the youngest, most rambunctious member of the team, Ruby Rose. She began to groan in protest to the natural wake-up call as she reached for something, heck anything, to keep the light out of her eyes. After flailing her hand around on the bed aimlessly she came across a few sheets of paper.

She cracked her eyes open a millimeter and saw that she was holding her homework and after a couple more seconds remembered that she didn't finish it before falling into a rather peaceful slumber. _'Well, Professor Port's homework isn't the most exciting pastime.'_ , Ruby thought to herself trying to find an excuse for when her teammates would ask why she hadn't completed it.

Of all the reactions she was imagining the most extreme ones came from her less than cheerful teammate Weiss. 'S _eriously, what's her problem? She just needs to calm down sometimes. It's not like anything bad will happen if I miss a few assignments here and there.'_ She spat inwardly as she looked over the edge of the bed at the white haired heiress. _'She even scowls in her sleep,'_ Ruby gave a sigh and turned back to her homework in hopes that she could finish before everyone woke up. After a second, more clear minded examination, she realized she only needed a couple paragraphs and resolved to just ask Yang to let her copy her assignment before class started.

She turned her gaze to her sister and gave a small smile at the sight of her sprawled out with one leg hanging off the edge of the bed while she snored almost unbearably loud. She gave a small snicker at Yang's ridiculous appearance. Yang gave a small chuckle and shifted in her sleep causing her arm join in the activity of hanging off the side of the bed. _'Hopefully she doesn't fall off the bed again.'_ It had only happened one other time but it was during one of her midday naps and Ruby was the only other one in the room. Ruby found it hilarious but Yang only gave a forced chuckle and said that if Ruby told anyone about the event she would reveal some less than favorable stories from when she attended Signal Academy. Yang shifted a little closer to the edge, to which Ruby gave a small smirk.

The sun had not ceased to illuminate the room while Ruby reminisced about her sisters hazardous sleeping tendencies. _'As much as I hate to admit it I think I should start to get ready for class.'_ Ruby said inwardly as she sat up and began to collect her school supplies. As soon as she had gathered up all her materials she jumped down from her bunk and dashed to her pack to return her work and supplies. She glanced to her right and fixated her gaze on a large red and black rectangular like piece of metal leaning against the wall. She pushed her pack aside and gingerly picked up her heavy, but currently compact weapon. "Good morning, Crescent Rose.", She whispered to the collapsible sniper rifle scythe as she hugged it warmly. She heard someone stirring in bed behind her and returned Crescent Rose to her original position before turning around with an air of nonchalance. To her relief it was only Weiss stirring in her sleep.

After exhaling deeply she went to get her towel and school clothes so she could go get ready for class. As she was gathering up her uniform she was lightly tapped on the shoulder and a calm and curious voice asked, "What are you doing up this early?" startled, Ruby spun around to see Blake in her pajamas staring quizzically at her.

Ruby gave a small exhale and perked up, "Hey Blake," Ruby said with a cheerful and noticeably tired reply "I think I could ask you the same question." She said giving an earnest smile.

"Your sister woke me up." Blake responded, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes as Yang let out a monstrous snore less than half a second afterwards.

"You should try wearing ear plugs." Ruby proposed feeling guilty on her sister's behalf.

"I don't think that will help." Blake replied, flinching slightly as Yang inhaled again

"Oh, is it because of the cat ears?" Ruby added, half curious and the other half sympathetic.

Blake looked at her with a flat slightly annoyed stare. "I don't think they would help because she snores at the same volume a Nevermore screeches at."

"I-I didn't mean to offend you it's just because you have the cat ears and the regular ears, I mean human ears not regular ears because it's not strange that you're a Faunus or anything because I'm totally cool with that, but I was just guessing you could hear out of both because it really wouldn't make sense if you could only hear out of just one set, and-" Blake continued to stare at her flatly. "And I'll just go get ready for class." Ruby said shamefully, she gathered her uniform and towel and walked out of the room avoiding any further eye contact with Blake.

 _'Well there goes a nice morning.'_ Ruby thought to herself as she walked to the showers.

* * *

Ruby opened the door to find all of her teammates had woken up in the time she was gone, which was expected due to Ruby taking another one of her famous half-hour showers. Blake was currently sitting on her bed enraptured in a brown and silver covered book. Blake must have also bathed and gotten ready while Ruby was lounging in the shower. Weiss and Yang however were still in their sleep wear and gathering their sundries in preparations for their morning rituals. Weiss' eyes darted to her young team leader and then back to her own uniform. "Why does it take you so long to get ready? The rest of us can get ready in half the time it takes you." Weiss snapped coldly.

Ruby let out and irritated sigh before replying, "Why does it matter? I don't slow anyone down and I'm always (almost always)on time to class so it's not a big deal."

"Ugh! Why can't you just admit that you waste time with your unreasonably long showers?"

"I don't have to admit to anything because I have plenty of time to spare." Ruby protested to the proud heiress who was now growing noticeably tense.

"You're so insufferable! Just-"

"You two are fighting over the stupidest things." Blake said calmly, not looking up from her book.

Both Ruby and Weiss threw a surprised look to the bookworm, but Weiss had more ferocity in her stare. Ruby averted her gaze from Blake and saw Weiss do the same almost simultaneously. Ruby gave a sad and almost guilty smile to Weiss who only gave a scowl and broke her gaze on the team leader with a jerk of her head. Weiss gathered her supplies and walked out of the room without another word, all the while avoiding eye contact with Ruby.

Ruby walked over to Weiss' bed and sat down not feeling the energy to stand or even climb up to her own bed. These arguments between her and Weiss had been happening quite frequently. _'Why is Weiss angry at me all of a sudden? I'm not even provoking her!'_ Ruby let out a deep sigh, Weiss' peculiar attitude was causing Ruby to try and avoid her at all times in fear of starting another heated argument. As Ruby began to wallow in her thoughts Yang sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"Hey, are ya' alright?" Yang said warmly, trying to force a smile to hide that fact that she was obviously upset.

"I'll be fine," Ruby said meekly

Yang gave a broad smile and pulled her little sister into a big hug. Ruby's anxiety began to dissipate by the second. But when the seconds dragged on into minutes the hug began to turn from comforting to awkward. Ruby had begun to blush and was trying to think of a way out of the embrace. When she remembered her incomplete homework she kicked herself for not remembering it sooner.

"Hey Yang can I copy the homework for Professor Port's class?" Ruby said almost breathlessly as Yang began to crush the air out of her.

"Sure," Yang said warmly while she held Ruby in place.

"Umm, Yang I meant, like, right now." Ruby said desperately due to the fact that Yang had not even attempted to release her. "Yang, are you even listening to me?"

"Sure," Yang said obliviously while she wore a large grin and began rocking them back and forth, lightly humming to herself.

"Ughhhh. Blake help me, please!" Ruby pleaded to the bookworm who was peeking over the top of her book watching the sisters embrace.

"But you two look so cute." Blake said, teasing the young leader through a small giggle.

Ruby grimaced at her reply, "Blake," Ruby said sternly as Yang continued to crush her little sister.

Blake rolled her eyes and let out a small sigh, "Alright, I was just letting you savor it." Blake said with a smirk as she walked over to the sisters and tried to pry them apart. "Geez, did you cover yourself in glue?" Blake exclaimed as she tried to release Ruby from her yellow vice. After a few strenuous pulls and what almost turned into a body slam Ruby managed to slip out of her sisters clutches and stumble to the floor gasping for air.

"Aww, I was enjoying myself." Yang whined hiding a smirk as she got up and began to change into her school uniform.

Once Ruby had refilled her lungs with sweet, sweet oxygen she posed a very good inquiry to her sister, "Aren't you going to take a shower?"

"No, I think I'll be fine without a shower for one day." Yang said perkily as she slipped on her skirt.

"That's really disgusting." Blake said taking a step back from the blonde.

"Ah, whatever let's go get breakfast." Yang said running a brush through her hair a few times before tossing it onto her bed and heading into the hallway.

Blake rolled her eyes at her best friend's disgusting behavior. "Sure," Blake said before following her into the hall.

Ruby stood in the center of the room for a few moments thinking about the less than happy Weiss that would soon return and find that her team had taken off without her. _'As captain I should stay behind and wait for her.'_

"Yo Ruby you comin' or what?" Yang said cheerfully from the doorway.

'Weiss just needs some time to herself.' Ruby thought to herself optimistically, 'Yeah…. Time….'

"Yeah, I'm coming." Ruby said hesitantly, almost having to force a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby stared down her options as she ran scenarios through her head. Ruby's eyes darted back and forth between the two choices, weighing said options with tactical precision knowing she may only get one chance. While Ruby stared at her options like the tactician she was, Yang began to poke her in the cheek each poke lowering the young captain's tolerance.

Ruby clenched her teeth and smacked Yang's hand away. Yang gave a little chuckle breaking the silence, "Ruby I don't mean to break your concentration, but you're holding up the line." Yang said as she held a thumb up, gesturing to about fifty or so hungry students not so patiently waiting in the line for breakfast.

"Hey, I don't interrupt you when you're making decisions like this." Ruby said impatiently to her sister. 'Honestly why can't she wait a few more minutes, this is important.' She said inwardly with a dead serious tone.

Yang let out a large sigh and smacked herself on the forehead, "You're choosing what kind of jam you want on your toast!" Yang shouted as a large red mark appeared in the place of impact. Yang's loud proclamation had caused some students who had already retrieved their meals to turn their heads to them curiously, while a fairly large amount of students in the line let out irritated groans.

Ruby blushed noticeably, now embarrassed from being forced into the crowd's attention. The young captain threw a stern glare to her sister which was greeted with a flat indifferent stare that read "Hey you brought this on yourself," At this Ruby turned to the jams and grabbed a serving of each before breaking away from the line making a short stroll across the bustling cafeteria to sit with Team JNPR.

 _'I probably could have just chosen both of them in the first place.'_ Ruby admitted to herself guiltily before coming face to face with her strange and almost flamboyant friends. "Good morning, everybody," Ruby said cheerfully, pushing the memory of her little jam debacle out of her mind.

Jaune remained silent but gave a weak smile and waved hello. Ren gave a small nod over his cup of tea while Nora waved rather frantically as she gave a similar reply through what appeared to be a mouthful of pancakes. "Good morning Ruby. Where is the rest of your team?" Pyrrha asked inquisitively, after taking concerned eyes off of Jaune.

"Yang and Blake are getting breakfast and Weiss is still getting dressed. Yang and Blake should be here in a couple of minutes." Ruby said with a hope that no one would ask why Weiss was still getting ready. As Ruby tried to think of a subject to talk about, her wandering eyes saw that Jaune's food was almost completely untouched. After a glance at Jaune she realized that he had a rather large bruise on his cheek and jaw with a fair amount of swelling.

"Hey Jaune, are you okay? Your face looks a little… bruised." Ruby said trying to find a word that wasn't quite as harsh as what she was thinking.

"I can explain that." Pyrrha said guiltily after a fake cough. "We were training this morning and after a miscalculated throw I might have accidentally hit Jaune in the face with my shield." Pyrrha said blushing brightly while trying to avoid eye contact with Jaune.

"Wait, what about Jaune's aura? Shouldn't it have healed up by now?" Ruby asked with concern and curiosity.

"Usually the answer would be yes, but he wasted a very large amount during training which is why I'm assuming he hasn't healed entirely." Pyrrha said trying to hide her shame. "It may also be due to the fact that I broke a couple of his teeth," Ruby gave a sympathetic and almost pitiful glance to Jaune, "and possibly his jaw." Pyrrha forced out as she placed her head in her hands.

Ruby flinched at Pyrrha's horrific retelling. _'Holy crap, a broken jaw, that's got to hurt.'_ Ruby said to herself as she stared at Jaune's large, swollen, purple wound. Ruby had broken her arm, and her leg on occasions but breaking your jaw was unimaginable. _'I'm surprised Jaune is even managing to sit here with an injury like that.'_ Ruby thought while mildly doubting Jaune's tenacity. "Did you take him to the medical ward at least?" Ruby asked growing concerned for Jaune's well being.

"He's being stubborn and won't let me take him." Pyrrha said with resentment and irritation for her leader's bold, but stupid choice.

Ruby threw a look of concerned disbelief at her fellow captain "Jaune I really think you should get some help so-"

"Goooood morning Team JNPR!" Yang exclaimed ecstatically as she sat down to Ruby's right while Blake sat down to Yang's right. "So what's going on with, whoa! What happened to Vomit Boy?" Yang asked staring at Jaune's hideous bruise before throwing a suggestive look and a broad smirk to Pyrrha, "Lovers' quarrel?"

Pyrrha gave a spiteful unamused stare to Yang, "There was a training accident, Yang." Pyrrha snapped before returning her gaze to her unfortunate friend.

"Huh, I thought you would be more careful and try to keep his face pretty." Yang beamed as Pyrrha gave another infuriated stare which Yang responded to with an almost flirtatious wink.

Pyrrha turned away, trying to hide the blush Yang had managed to induce, before standing up. _'Yang sure knows how to get under Pyrrha's skin, I'll give her that'_ Ruby thought to herself as she watched Pyrrha try to contain her cocktail of emotions.

Pyrrha let out a sigh and turned to face Ruby, "I'm going to go get some ice for Jaune's face. I'll be back in a couple minutes." A shameful expression crossed Pyrrha's face before beginning to walk towards the kitchen.

"So," Yang said with a wide smile across her face, "How're ya' doin' there Vomit Boy?" Yang teased Jaune with what almost sounded like sympathy.

 _'I must be hungrier than I thought if Yang is actually being nice to Jaune.'_ Ruby thought to herself as she began to lift some pancakes into her mouth.

Jaune looked at her with an extremely pained look in his eyes, "I feel like crap," He slurred with a terrifying seriousness, "And I'm pretty sure my gums are bleeding."

"Oh… Well I hope you feel better, soon." Yang said now deterred from teasing him due to his already miserable state.

The six of them fell into a fairly awkward silence as they ate their breakfast and tried to not stare at Jaune's rather grotesque injury. Nora offered to tell everyone about one of her dreams, but Ren talked her out of doing so mostly due to the fact that they had all heard the story before and the only difference in this one was that she had a funny hat on.

Admittedly Ruby would have still loved to hear her dream because her dreams were still interesting, and she wanted something to break the silence. Unfortunately for her, Blake found some fuel for a conversation when she noticed that Ruby had taken an unusually large serving of eggs, an extra glass of orange juice along with her milk, a few pieces of toast that remained untouched, and a pair of unopened jam containers.

"Ruby, what's with the extra food?" Blake inquired, raising an eyebrow while glancing around Yang. All members of the group turned their attention to Ruby who was now choking on a pancake.

After taking a quick swig of milk she threw hasty glances to each of them while stammering out a shaky response, "I-I grabbed so much because I –I, uh… Hey look Pyrrha's back!" Ruby gave a little sigh as Pyrrha rejoined the group handing Jaune a small bag of ice which he tentatively applied to his cheek.

"What're you guys talking about?" Pyrrha asked happily as Jaune gave her a weak smile.

"Ruby was just about to tell us why she grabbed so much food." Blake said matter-of-factly causing Pyrrha to lean forward and examine Ruby's tray. Ruby began to blush as the attention made her want to bolt out of the cafeteria. She was just about to do so when the answer to Blake's question stormed right up to the table almost ready to explode with rage.

"What's wrong ice princess?" Yang said with a small smirk.

"They've already stopped serving breakfast, and I got here too late." Weiss snapped at the blonde as she sat down about half a yard to Ruby's left staring at the table with contempt for the chefs in the kitchen who were depriving her of her breakfast.

 _'Now's my chance!'_ Ruby shouted to herself with the hope of saving her friendship with Weiss. "Hey Weiss I didn't finish all my food. You can have it if you want." Ruby said with an air of nonchalance.

Weiss gave a cold stare to Ruby dispelling her calm demeanor and replacing it with an extremely pitiful frown. Weiss let out a large sigh and took the tray from Ruby while trying to remain indifferent.

"Thank you, Ruby," Weiss said almost painfully while she spread a little bit of both jams onto her toast.

 _'Yes,'_ Ruby cheered for herself internally _'Maybe that will help make up for what I must've done to Weiss… Or what I didn't do… Why am I trying to make up anyways? I'm pretty sure I didn't even do anything. Oh well it's better to have her happy than be angry.'_ Ruby put on a cheesy smile "No problem Weiss, that's what friends are for right?"

This caused Weiss to give an almost unnoticeable sigh… Almost unnoticeable. As the teams continued to eat, Yang gave a concerned look to Ruby who was now slumped onto the table and playing with the end of her cape.

"So," Weiss said suddenly breaking the dead silence that had covered the table "Jaune, what happened to your face?" Weiss' stark and straight forward question prompted a hateful glare from Pyrrha who decided to answer for Jaune.

"He got it in a training accident." Pyrrha stated eager to end this discussion immediately.

"Hmm you know if he really belonged here he wouldn't have to take extra training. Don't you think so, Pyrrha?" Weiss said brutally before throwing an acidic smirk to her.

"We should be getting to class." Pyrrha said, stone faced as she grabbed Jaune by the forearm and began to pull him along with her out of the cafeteria. As soon as Pyrrha and Jaune were out of sight Ren and Nora got to their feet and made to depart, but not before Ren leaned towards Blake beginning a private conversation. The only thing Ruby could make out through the whispers was something that sounded like, "The usual wager," which they must've agreed to because Ren and Nora left moments after with a couple waves.

 _'Why are those two always so cryptic?'_ Ruby pondered to herself briefly.

Ruby sat up in her seat and looked to the members of her team. "Well, I think we should probably get to class, we don't want to be late." At this she stood and began to stretch a little as her sister followed suit and Blake just stood up and cracked open another book. Ruby turned to Weiss who had just finished breakfast and was dabbing her mouth with a napkin.

"You don't have to wait for me, I can walk perfectly fine you know." Weiss said resentfully.

Ruby gave a little grunt before beginning the long walk to Professor Port's class. Although she was trying to get on Weiss' good side Weiss had been making it difficult for Ruby to even be in the same room with her some nights forcing her to duck out of the room and wander the school aimlessly. 'Well I can forget about Weiss' foul mood thanks to one of Professor Port's sleep inducing rants, those are always a free ticket to make up for lost sleep.' Ruby thought to herself now wearing a smile that not even Weiss could remove.


	3. Chapter 3

Ruby glanced around at the bare trees that sparsely covered the endless forest. The sky was clear and the air was warm as the morning sun's rays fell gently on the woodland, casting down intricate shadows through the branches. Ruby was resisting the urge to skip as she walked into a clearing, beaming with joy. As she approached the center of the field, grass crunching softly under her feet, some unusual force had caused her to come to a complete stop in the center. She began to throw curious looks in all directions.

A sense of déjà vu bolted into the young girls mind. _'This place it's so… familiar.'_ Ruby thought, her smile quickly fading from her face. The confused girl looked to her left, and then her right, but what captivated her was straight ahead, standing at the edge of the woods. Ruby stared with a sense of curiosity and disbelief.

Fortunately for her, the longer she stared at it the clearer it became, but the less she understood. Ruby was beyond confused, _'I-Is that-'_

**SMACK**

Ruby bolted out of her nap giving quick panicked glances around the room, looking for her attacker. In her state of alarm she only noticed Weiss diligently taking notes, Blake reading a book she was hiding in her lap, a medley of bored students, a ranting professor Port, and her occasionally over passionate sister glaring at Weiss for some unknown reason. Ruby let out an exhausted sigh and slouched back in her seat, _'What's with Yang, she seems kind of tense.'_ Ruby thought, before transferring her curiosity to Weiss.

Upon further examination she noticed that Weiss was writing with her right hand, and her left hand was in her lap looking slightly more red than usual. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together. She flashed Weiss a disappointed glance before turning to Yang and giving her a small shrug. At Ruby's surprising sign of tolerance the blonde brawler crossed her arms and diverted her attention to the cheerful professor. 'Weiss sure knows how to ruin a nap.' Ruby thought as resentment for her "friend" began to fester.

Ruby only stayed mad at Weiss for a couple of minutes before getting tired of the strenuous, and rather useless, activity. Eager to find something to do she decided she was desperate and started to listen to Professor Port's story.

"So there I was, face to face with a pack of fifteen Beowolves in the town square, but I knew that if I showed any sign of fear they would rip me to shreds in a heartbeat! But then just as I prepared to strike, the Alpha Beowolf burst out from the forest and ran into the town, snarling and howling like the mad beast it was! Being the skilled Huntsman I am I knew that if I were able to slay the Alpha the rest of the Beowolves would retreat like the cowardly whelps they were! So I charged the monster head on, weapon in hand, and all fears set aside-"

 _'Okay, that's enough of that.'_ Ruby pleaded internally, unable to bear through the rest of Port's ludicrous story. Ruby might not have been the best in the class but she was smart enough to tell that her mustachioed professor was exaggerating parts of his story.

Now that Ruby's distraction from boredom was gone she needed something to get her through the rest of class. Unfortunately for her the option of taking another nap was off the table due to a fairly obvious reason. An obvious reason that had white hair, wore a combat skirt, and had a pretty sore hand right about now. While Ruby reminisced about her rude awakening she began to recall her unusual dream.

 _'That was a weird dream.'_ Ruby thought to herself as she began to piece together what she could remember. Most of Ruby's dreams weren't as complex as the one she just had. Ruby didn't like to think about her dreams a lot anyways. She remembered back to when she was younger and always eager to tell everyone about random or crazy dreams, but then she stopped. She knew the exact reason she stopped, just thinking about it caused her to give herself a little hug. As Ruby gave a sad glance to Yang she noticed her sister was enraptured with the task of balancing a pencil on its tip. This cheered her up a little bit, but as she went to wipe her eyes she could have sworn Weiss was staring at her out of the corner of hers.

 _'Seriously what's up with her? One minute she's mad at me and the next she's acting like she cares. Or maybe it's just me.'_ Doubt began to rise in the young captain. 'Maybe Weiss is acting perfectly normal and I'm just being weird.' Ruby gave a small sigh. 'I should probably just ask her… Wait a minute why haven't I just asked her what's going on? I'm such an idiot sometimes.' Ruby kicked herself internally before returning to her previously chipper mood. 'Nicely done Ruby you're going to avert a team crisis and save your friendship with Weiss because you're the best captain at Beacon and there's-'

"And for my courageous actions a feast was held in my honor and the Alpha Beowolf's head was mounted in the town hall!" Professor Port proclaimed finishing his story while throwing his hands in the air at his prideful victory. A few small claps were heard throughout the class which caused the professor to lower his arms, and clear his throat, putting on the guise of a more respectable figure. "Your homework is to read pages one hundred and twenty through one hundred and ninety then write a three page biography on the Beowolf which should include how they've affected the human and Faunus races since the discovery of dust. I want your biographies on my desk by next class." He took a quick glance to his wristwatch. "We have a couple minutes of class left. You may take these last few minutes to talk and pack your belongings." He then proceeded to walk back to his desk and flip through the assignments turned in at the start of the class.

 _'I hope he doesn't read too deep into mine.'_ Ruby thought hopefully, remembering her hasty, and fairly sloppy copy of Yang's work which she did right before class started.

"So," Ruby said cheerfully as her and her teammates gathered their supplies. "Is everyone ready for lunch?" Ruby inquired with a small smile.

Weiss let out an irritated sigh, "Is food all you ever think about?" Weiss muttered coldly, causing Ruby's smile to fade away almost instantaneously.

"Why can't you respect my sister?" Yang said, an obvious amount of anger in her tone. "How would you like it if I smacked you upside y'er head?!" Yang proposed as a red tint became visible in her light purple eyes.

"She shouldn't be sleeping in class anyways. If anything you should be thanking me for making sure she doesn't get thrown out of Beacon." Weiss retorted with brutal honesty.

"Oh, if anyone is getting thrown out of Beacon it's you, and I'll be doing so after kicking your skinny white a-"

"Stop fighting!" Ruby demanded, "Yang I'm fine, and Weiss is right I shouldn't be sleeping in class." Ruby said earnestly as she gave a guilty smile to her friends. Weiss and Yang exchanged a brief look, revealing that Ruby managed to assuage their nerves.

At this Ruby stood and nodded towards the exit, "Now, let's go get lunch." Weiss stood and gave Ruby a solemn glance before strutting out the door towards the cafeteria.

Yang shook her head slightly and gave a bitter look to Ruby, "You know you don't have to defend her." She said to her little sister, lashing out for not getting to murder Weiss.

"She's a friend Yang, wouldn't you do the same?" Ruby said, trying to make her sister feel guilty. Yang's expression shifted to a sympathetic frown, which she quickly exchanged with Blake who shared a similar expression.

Yang let out a serious sigh and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby, as your sister I feel it's necessary to point out that if you were in her place she probably wouldn't be defending you." A cold surge flowed through Ruby as she began to ask herself if what Yang said might be true. Yang removed her comforting hand from Ruby's shoulder and walked out of the class.

Blake gave Ruby a small shrug and began to walk towards to exit before turning to her. "If you're going to do something, I would suggest doing it soon." As Ruby gave a confused expression to the usually neutral girl, Blake decided there wasn't need for further explanation, and decided to smoothly rush out of the exit to rejoin Yang.

Ruby bowed her head and let out a depressed sigh. _'Blake's right. I need to talk to Weiss and find out what's going on.'_ With that, Ruby set out contemplating exactly how to resolve this.


	4. Chapter 4

After arriving at the cafeteria and gathering their food lunch was extremely awkward and tense. The only conversation amongst the teams was a few quips from Yang about how Jaune was healing rather quickly. Ruby had to admit some of them were kind of funny, but most just added on to the already uncomfortable meal. After lunch Ruby shared Advanced Weapons Training with Blake which, like most days, was pretty quiet. Ruby tried to ask Blake for help with the Weiss problem, but the well-read girl shot her down saying that it was Ruby's problem. At this Ruby began to childishly shun Blake for abandoning her to deal with Weiss alone.

Weapons Training was followed by a slightly more lively dinner. Jaune was completely healed from his early morning training accident and Yang managed to make some casual banter with Jaune and Pyrrha that was received with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. The three managed to lift the spirits of four of their teammates, while one remained static and cold to her cheery friends. A few more minutes passed before Weiss stood and left to do some private training, without paying any of them a proper farewell. Stifling silence engulfed the table as the other students roared with laughter and gusto in the bustling cafeteria. The remaining team members finished their food and decided to go their separate ways.

"Hey, sis, me and Blake are going to head down to the library for a little studyin'. I gotta study for a world cultures test I have in a couple'a days, and Blake's helping me." The blonde said, holding her hands behind her head, while wearing a bored expression. Ruby gave her a short curious glance, but shrugged it off not paying much of a second thought to this.

"Alright, have a nice time. When do you guys think you'll be back?" Ruby said, glancing to Blake who had closed a book and was getting ready to leave.

"It shouldn't take too long. We're just gonna go over the important stuff, and review a couple'a things." Yang said, turning to Blake to see if she was ready, to which Blake gave a nod.

"Okay, well I'm just going to head back to the room and relax." Ruby said, before popping her neck.

"Alright, I'll make sure to knock before comin' in. Ya' know in case you have a little company." Yang said, flashing a wink to her now appalled sister. At this Blake rolled her eyes and headed off towards the library.

Ruby threw an infuriated look to her sister while Nora burst into a fit of giggles, and a little bit of whispering could be heard between Jaune and Pyrrha. Ruby gave a confused glance to her friends while trying to hide her fervent blushing.

"J-just get out of here!" Ruby shouted at Yang, pulling her hood on and turning away from her sister.

Yang chuckled a bit, "Jeez, I'm just messin' with ya'. See ya' later." Yang said, as she strolled off nonchalantly.

Ruby turned back to Team JNPR who were brightly beaming at her. Ruby looked between the members for a way out of this predicament. When she couldn't find one she bolted upright trying, and almost immediately failing, to put on a calm, indifferent demeanor, like her sister's.

"Well, I'm gonna head on up to bed. I guess I'll see ya' in the morning." Ruby tried to force a grin, but only managed to bring it to a half smile. At this Ruby received an assortment of farewells and goodnights, before she stumbled off towards her dorm.

* * *

As soon as Ruby arrived back at her room, she climbed onto her bed and threw herself into her pillow. She snuggled in close to her cool pillow and began to pull a blanket over herself. She didn't care that she was still wearing her uniform. In fact, she hadn't even removed her shoes and would be fine sleeping fully clothed, but unfortunately she had to stay awake. She threw her blanket aside and rolled onto her back. She looked around for a few minutes savoring the calm cool room which was receiving all its light from the moon. Ruby's worries were alleviated as she looked around the serene room. The radiant moonlight had given the room tranquility that could best be appreciated alone. No one there to break the peaceful silence. No one to distract her from taking in the cold, still air. She really regretted staying awake, because falling asleep in the soft lunar light was something she enjoyed more than anything else in the world.

Ruby sat up, let out a little sigh, and leaned forward to remove her shoes. She had half a mind to just toss them onto the ground, but doing so was likely to prompt another rant from an already irate Weiss.

"Why are your shoes in the middle of the floor?! I could trip on them, tumble out the window, and fall five stories to the ground!" Ruby blurted out in her best Weiss impression, with a small hair flip for added effect. The room returned to dead silence after her brief lampoon. _'Yang would have thought that was funny.'_ Ruby tried to convince herself before jumping out of bed and walking over to her pile of boxes to put down her shoes. The thought of changing into her pajamas came to mind, but was immediately dashed when Weiss walked into the room.

The white haired girl turned on the lights and gave a slightly taken aback look when she noticed Ruby.

"Why are you just standing around in the dark?" Weiss inquired to Ruby.

"Oh, I came in and I was busy enjoying the-" A hand was raised abruptly to indicate that Ruby should stop talking.

Weiss lowered her hand and pulled out a chair to sit at her desk. She proceeded to pull out a textbook from her bag titled, "An Acute History on The Creatures of Grimm" and flip to about the twentieth page into their assigned reading.

 _'Well, what are you doing? Talk to her.'_ Ruby pleaded inwardly, afraid of what her teammate would say if she interrupted her studying. Ruby had begun to walk back to her bunk with the thought of sleep creeping slowly to the forefront of her mind. 'Ruby Rose, you are captain of this team, and it is your responsibility to fix problems with your team. Now fix this problem!' Ruby shouted to herself inwardly.

Ruby took a deep breath. "S-so, Weiss," A loud irritated sigh filled the air, "How was your training with Myrtenaster? Work on any new techniques?"

Dead silence

Ruby wanted to force a laugh to break the silence, but the air was so thick it was almost suffocating. _'Come on, get to it and ask her what's up.'_ The voice demanded as Ruby cleared her throat.

"Hey Weiss, me and a couple of other people may have noticed that you're acting a little… different lately. Is anything wrong?"

The room stayed silent for a few more moments, until Weiss stood and turned to Ruby making the air around her thicker and colder. Each breath hurt slightly and holding a gaze with the ice heiress was almost impossible.

"You have a lot of nerve talking to me about the way I act." Weiss attacked swiftly, "You're a poor student and you're bringing down this team." Weiss snapped coldly, showing no sign of backing down.

"I'm not bringing anyone down!" Ruby shouted trying to defend herself from Weiss.

"Pfft, you're always wasting time and being lazy." Weiss crossed her arms and glared at Ruby with malice in her eyes. "I saw you copying off Yang's homework earlier. You're too lazy to even do your own work."

"I-I was a couple of paragraphs short and she agreed to help me." Ruby blurted out trying to defend herself from the onslaught.

"Typical, you just come up with more and more excuses. What's next, are you going to explain that it's okay for you to sleep in class because you hear the whole lesson in your dreams or some garbage like that?"

"Hey I'm sorry that I fell asleep, and I promise it won't happen again." Weiss was being ruthless and Ruby didn't have any ammo.

"Oh you promise? Why should I believe you? In fact how do I know you weren't in here rummaging through my stuff before I came in?"

 _'Did she just call me a thief? That's where I draw the line.'_ Ruby made to retaliate, "Hey I'm not perfect but I'm not a thief! And here's a little newsflash for ya' princess, I'm not trying to prove anything to you or Yang or Blake because I have my flaws, and-and I'm sorry I do, but if you were a good friend you wouldn't be attacking me because I screwed up a couple of times." Ruby knew she had a sound offense and she could tell that Weiss was choosing her words carefully.

"W-well here's a newsflash for you, we're not friends!" Weiss shouted heatedly.

The room fell silent and Ruby no longer wanted to fight. She didn't have the motivation or energy to keep going. She took a couple steps back and bowed her head a little.

"Okay." Ruby said weakly. This was the only thing she could muster up the strength to say. She gave a short glance to Weiss who still looked fairly angry.

"Well…" Silence engulfed the battlefield in the wake of their feud. "I'm going to get back to studying. Don't interrupt me again." At this she sat back down and pulled out a pencil to take some notes.

 _'We're not even friends.'_ Ruby thought as she stood there defeated by a few simple words. As she dwelled on that spirit-crushing moment her school clothes grew more and more uncomfortable. She trudged over to her drawer, pulled her uniform off, and began to change into her pajamas while her fight with Weiss ran through her mind like her brain had set it to loop. She managed to muster the strength to pull herself into bed. She pulled the blanket over her head and closed her eyes, praying for this Dust damned day to end already.

An almost unnatural silence fell over the room as Ruby waited for sleep, but it was broken by a loud snap, which sounded like a pencil breaking. The curious snap was followed by a loud thump which almost prompted Ruby to investigate, but the door suddenly swung open and Blake and Yang walked in breaking the perpetual silence and bringing life back to the room. Unfortunately for Blake and Yang, Ruby wasn't in a social mood right now and just wanted to retreat into slumber.

It didn't take long for her to drift off to sleep. She was soon walking through the forest only to come to a halt in a clearing, gawking in sheer disbelief at the figure standing right in front of her.


	5. Chapter 5

Ruby awoke groggily to the vibration and light chimes emanating from her scroll. She squinted hard and pulled the blankets over her head. She grabbed her pillow and attempted to use it as a pair of make-shift earmuffs, but gave up quickly and accepted the fact that she had to get up. Ruby pulled the blankets off of her head and glared at her stupid scroll which was still flashing and serenading her. With a single quick motion she grabbed it off the covers and disabled the alarm.

Ruby gave a deep sigh and looked out the window, seeing nothing but an overcast sky she didn't let her eyes linger and turned back to her room. A small smile came to Ruby's face as she saw Yang was sleeping with her face buried in her pillow, which was clearly soaked with drool. Ruby gave a small chuckle, _'She's probably gonna soak through the mattress.'_ Ruby thought as she tried to suppress her giggling. Then Ruby heard a small mutter and a little rustling coming from the bunk below hers. She peeked over the side of her bed and saw Weiss tossing and turning in her sleep while muttering something inaudible. For a second Ruby was curious to why Weiss was so uncomfortable, but the second passed and Ruby pushed the thought out of her mind.

 _'Why should I be concerned for her? She made it obvious that we're not friends.'_ Ruby thought to herself bitterly. She rolled onto her back and let out a sigh. _'Who needs Weiss anyways? You have plenty of good friends. Like Jaune or Blake.'_ Ruby thought trying to lighten her mood. _'Wait… Where is Blake?'_ Ruby thought as she turned and realized Blake wasn't in her bed. She glanced around the room a couple of times before coming to the conclusion she wasn't there.

Ruby started to get concerned wondering where her teammate could be. As Ruby began to run scenarios through her head about how she could've been kidnapped, Blake walked into the room fully dressed for class, humming to herself while she combed her hair.

Ruby smiled at how foolish she was to panic over such a trivial thing. Ruby knew very well that Blake liked to wake up before everyone else, but it must have slipped her mind do to a certain teammate of hers.

"Good morning, Blake." Ruby said cheerily, seizing Blake's attention

"Good morning." Blake said in a calm but friendly tone. "How long have you been up?"

"Just a few minutes. I'm gonna go take my shower." Ruby said, as she leaped off her bed.

"Okay, just try to cut down on your shower today so you don't make Weiss too mad." Blake said, half serious and half jokingly.

The smile on Ruby's face disappeared, "Yeah, we wouldn't want that." Ruby said quietly trying to force a laugh.

Blake tilted her head slightly and squinted a little, "Is everything alright between you two?" Blake said a she curiously examined Ruby.

 _'Don't tell her the truth! Things will escalate if you do, just play it off all cool like.'_ Ruby said inwardly as Blake stared her down. "Yeah everything's cool. Why would it not be alright? We're almost like best friends again or something!" She let out a burst of, obviously fake, laughter to convince Blake that she was relaxed and happy.

Blake just stared at Ruby, unconvinced.

 _'Smooth, Ruby. Very smooth.'_ "Well I'm going to go take my shower now. I'll see you after."

Blake stared at Ruby for a few more moments, before she shrugged and went over to a bookshelf to pick out a new book. "Okay." She said, as she perused her massive collection.

Ruby let out a little sigh and went to grab her toiletries. She gave a small glance over her shoulder to Blake who was now humming as she sought out a new book. Ruby could actually hear her muttering a few lyrics to herself. As Ruby walked to the door Blake became slightly more audible and she paused for a moment to hear what she was singing.

"One life

Is not a long time

When you're waiting

With no-"

At this Ruby closed the door and proceeded towards the showers. _'Eh, it's an okay song, but I think I'd prefer something with an acoustic guitar. That would sound kickass.'_ Ruby thought to herself as she walked down the hall, now humming a different song.

* * *

Ruby had managed to finish her shower, to her distaste, in about ten minutes today. It only took a few minutes for her to get dressed and ready, but she knew if Weiss got the opportunity she would use every second against her. Ruby stared at herself in the mirror, "Why am I driving off Weiss?" She asked the mirror curious as to why her friendship with Weiss disintegrated. She looked back into the mirror and a more serious expression filled the reflective canvas, "There's nothing wrong with you. It's her problem she's always acting like a bitch." Ruby slapped a hand over her mouth. The second she said the last word she wanted to take it back. _'What a horrible thing to say about Weiss.'_ Ruby thought before looking into the mirror and hesitantly admitting, "Well… It's accurate." At this Ruby refused to look back into the mirror.

An awkward silence fell across the bathroom, which was promptly broken by Yang kicking the door in and letting out a large yawn as she stretched her arms. A broad smile came across Ruby's face as Yang lowered one arm and scratched an armpit with her other hand. Ruby shook her head in disgust, but it was extremely evident that she was probably just pulled out of bed and didn't care very much attention to her rude behavior.

"Good morning, Yang." Ruby said giggling slightly at Yang's disheveled appearance.

Yang pried an eye open to glance at the person who uttered that horrible statement. When Yang saw Ruby a small smile came to her lips, "I wouldn't exactly call it good, but it is morning." Yang said, scratching her head and clearing her throat a little.

Ruby gave a small laugh, "So, you're gonna take a shower today?" Ruby said, mockingly.

"Oh ha ha, very funny, but yeah I am. Oh and I didn't bring my stuff so can I use yours?" Yang said not shifting tone and barely breaking the flow of the conversation.

"Why didn't you grab your own supplies?"

"Blake woke me up and pushed me out the door sayin' I needed a shower."

"Well she's not wrong." Ruby muttered to herself.

Yang's eyes widened and it became increasingly apparent that she was getting irritated. "Can I use your stuff or what?" Yang suddenly dropped her stiff approach and opened her eyes as wide as possible and got to her knees. "Please, Ruby you already look totally awesome and you have that shampoo that smells like roses." She batted her eyes a few times and stared at Ruby as her lip quivered.

Ruby was no match for her sister's tactic and surrendered immediately. "Ugggh, fine. Just use my stuff."

Yang sprang up off of her knees and gave Ruby a little hug. "Thanks Rubes."

Ruby rolled her eyes at this and headed back to her room in an attempt to put as much space as possible between her and Yang's puppy-dog eyes.

The walk back to the room only lasted a couple minutes but it seemed more difficult coming back to the room rather than walking away from it. As she arrived at the door all she could do was stare at the handle. She could hear herself breathing loudly, she knew what happened last time she was in there with morning Weiss. Ruby grasped the handle, she was expecting to walk in there and get into a shouting match with Weiss and it wasn't going to go half as well as yesterdays. She began to turn the handle and closed her eyes as the door creaked open she expected Weiss to immediately yell her out of the room. She pulled the door all the way open and heard nothing. She opened an eye and saw Weiss was still asleep.

Ruby let out a sigh of relief and walked in to see Blake relaxing on her bed reading a blue and silver book, while Weiss stirred restlessly in her sleep.

"How long has she been like that?" Ruby whispered loudly to Blake

"Hmm? Oh, yeah she's been like that all morning. I haven't heard her scroll go off though so she must have forgotten to set it." Blake said shrugging off the fact.

For a second Ruby questioned whether or not they should wake her. 'Hey, she forgot to set her scroll, it's not your responsibility to get her up every morning.' Ruby proclaimed inwardly.

Ruby had decided she was dead-set on not helping Weiss, and stared at her in disgust for her behavior and concern for her unpleasant dreams. Ruby wanted to break eye contact with Weiss, but she was too concerned and infuriated to look away. As she refused to break eye contact with Weiss she noticed that Blake's book was being held lower than it usually was. She decided to shift her focus to Blake entirely, revealing that Blake was watching her.

"What?" Ruby said confused

"What are you doing?" Blake said curiously now raising an eyebrow.

"Umm I'm… watching Weiss." Ruby blurted out, "What are you doing?"

"I'm watching you, watching Weiss." Blake said quickly.

The room fell awkwardly silent for a few moments and Ruby didn't know exactly how to break the silence. Luckily for Ruby Yang burst into the room drying her hair with a red towel.

"Thanks for letting me use your stuff Ruby." Yang said, throwing aside Ruby's towel and taking off her pajama top, causing Blake to bury her face in her book and Ruby to cover her eyes and turn away.

"Yang, why didn't you change in the bathroom? And why aren't you wearing a bra?!" Ruby shouted to Yang.

"Because, I didn't bring my uniform with me and sleeping with a bra on is uncomfortable. And you can look now I put one on!" Yang shouted half amused by her teammates and half annoyed. "For Dust's sake we're all girls and we're on the same team."

"Yeah, but it's weird, so can you at least try and wear underwear, okay?" Ruby asked innocently.

Yang let out a large sigh as she pulled on her blouse. "Fine. But you guys don't have to be such prudes." Yang said giggling a little.

Ruby let out an exhausted sigh, "Whatever, let's just head down to the cafeteria and get some breakfast."

"But, what about Miss Sunshine?" Yang said sarcastically as she nodded her head in Weiss's direction.

"She'll be fine. She's always on time for class so she'll be okay." Ruby said, as she tried to cover a malicious smile under the guise of a warm cheery one. Blake raised an eyebrow and gave her an unconvinced look. "She'll be fine." Ruby said assertively.

"Well okie dokie then let's go, I'm starvin'." Yang said happily as she flung the door open and walked off towards the cafeteria.

Blake walked up to Ruby slowly and scanned her a little with her Amber eyes. "Are you sure things are okay between you two?" Blake asked while staring Ruby in the eyes.

"Things have never been better." Ruby lied while wearing a warm smile. At this Blake walked off shaking her head a little and not even attempting to wait for her team leader.

As soon as Blake left the room Ruby dropped her fake smile and gave a final glance to Weiss. Ruby could hear Weiss mumbling something that kind of sounded like her name. _'Is she even arguing with me in her dreams?'_ Ruby let out a little sigh, _'Seems about right.'_

At this Ruby stepped into the hall beginning to pull the door shut behind her slowly. But then a thought came into Ruby's mind, which caused a sadistic smile to cross her face. She began to push the door open again to make sure it would gain enough speed. When the door was as far back as possible she tapped into her aura and harnessed the power of her semblance. _'Alright. One… Two… Three!'_ Ruby held tight on the handle and ran to the wall parallel her slamming the door shut so fast that large cracks covered the door as it splintered in multiple places. Ruby heard a small, short shriek come from within the room, and laughed to herself. _'Good morning, Weiss.'_ Ruby thought to herself as she strutted of towards the cafeteria.


	6. Chapter 6

The cafeteria was warm and full of life compared to the cold gloomy campus grounds. The weather called for a heavy rainstorm, but that was the farthest thing from Ruby's mind right now. Instead Ruby was focusing on being angry at Weiss. 'We were supposed to be friends.' Ruby thought as she grabbed a serving of eggs for herself. 'And since we're not friends I'm not going to get her breakfast. That'll show her.' Ruby thought intensely as she grabbed a green apple and bit directly into it. A grimace crossed Ruby's face as she remembered she hated green apples. She held back the urge to spit it out, and forced herself to swallow it. 'Why does Weiss even like these? She has weird taste.' Ruby thought as she tried to rub the taste off her tongue while continuing to shuffle through the line grabbing a couple sides along the way.

After Ruby gathered a tray of eggs, toast, bacon, and a few oatmeal cookies she headed off towards the table. 'I wonder if Ozpin ever got my suggestion to serve chocolate chip cookies at breakfast?' Ruby thought. 'That would be a great way to wake up. Maybe they could also serve them at lunch and maybe in class! That would be awesome! They should even make a system that sends them to your room! Oh what about-'

"Hello! Ruby! Anyone home?" Yang said as she knocked on Ruby's forehead.

"Gah! What do you want?" Ruby shouted at Yang's sudden interruption.

"We were trying to get your attention but you weren't paying attention. You actually started walking past us so don't bite my head off."

Ruby blushed brightly, "Oh, sorry about that I was thinking about something."

Yang gave a sigh, "Ruby nobody likes the idea for a cookie reward system."

"Hey nobody asked you." Ruby said in defense of her obviously stupid plan.

"Whatever, let's go sit down." Yang said cheerfully, putting an arm over Ruby's shoulder and leading her back to the table.

It only took a couple seconds to get back to the table where Ruby and Yang were greeted warmly by Blake and Pyrrha, while Jaune and Ren waved weakly.

"Good morning, everyone." Ruby said happily as she took her set to Yang's left. Ruby glanced back up quickly and decided to ask the obvious question. "Hey guys, where's Nora?"

Jaune and Ren exchanged a brief wordless conversation and a small nod of Ren's head and a roll of the eyes showed that he'd be explaining. "Nora didn't want to get up this morning because she was still dreaming. It's weird, she's usually up before me, but not today."

"Didn't you guys try and wake her up?" Ruby said curiously.

Jaune gave a small irritated grunt, "Well I convinced Jaune into helping me pull her out of bed, but she ended up just kicking us in our stomachs." Ren said as he ran a hand over his stomach.

"Speak for yourself," Jaune said uncomfortably "She was aiming lower on me." He said as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat while Pyrrha tried to comfort him by rubbing his shoulder.

Ren gave a guilty glance to his friend, "Look I said I'm sorry and Nora is probably sorry as well."

Before Jaune could respond to Ren's apology Yang decided to inject herself into the conversation. "Come on Ren you got to be careful on Jaune. How do you expect him and Pyrrha to have fifteen kids if you smash his lil'Jaune?"

Pyrrha blushed brightly and took her hand off of Jaune's shoulder, Ruby, Ren and Blake disapproved of Yang's teasing and just stared at their plates, but Jaune sat up straighter with a look of determination.

"Ya know what Yang you probably should be more concerned for yourself." Yang raised an eyebrow, "I mean considering the way you dress, in a couple years your chest is going to be pretty leathery and chapped. I suggest investing in an actual shirt."

Ruby couldn't help but burst out laughing at Jaune's remark and judging by Ren's spit-take and Blake's stifled laughter they also found Jaune's remark rather amusing. Well everyone except Yang of course, who had crossed her arms and was blushing brightly.

"Well you're a-a..."Yang trailed off as she tried to make a witty comeback against Jaune.

A large smirk crossed Jaune's face, "What's the matter Yang? Cat got your tongue?" Jaune said as he egged Yang on.

"Hey," Blake said coldly as she attempted to murder Jaune with her eyes.

Jaune blinked a few times, "What happened what'd I say?" Blake responded by raising a hand and pointing at her bow. "Yeah you wear a bow, but what did I say?" Jaune said absentmindedly.

"Wait a minute," Ruby said half confused and half curious "Did we ever tell him about the…?" Ruby said pointing at the top of her own head.

"I'm pretty sure we did." Blake said trying to remember if she told Jaune about her being a Faunus.

Jaune glanced back and forth between the two of them, "What's happening? Tell me what?" He then looked to his teammates who gave him shrugs in confusion

And then it hit Ruby and Blake like a train. 'Oh crap. How could we forget to tell them?'

Ruby gave a quick glance to Blake and began to prepare an explanation, but just as she opened her mouth to explain a very energetic Nora ran up to the table and slammed her hands down.

"You guys, I had the most awesome dream!" Nora shouted as she bounced with excitement.

Ruby gave a sigh, "Is it the one where you're a super soldier who has to fight off a bunch of aliens to save the galaxy?"

"And they try and use some ancient alien machinery to take over the universe?" Yang chimed in.

"But they end up releasing another alien species that consumes all biological life?" Blake said.

"Then another group of aliens start fighting with the first group of aliens? Pyrrha said placing her chin in her hand and propping her elbow on the table.

"So then you team up with one of the aliens and save the universe from complete extermination?" Jaune said crossing his arms and giving a patient glance to Nora.

"And I'm a "sexy" AI hologram?" Said Ren as he smeared cream cheese onto a bagel.

"No! It's a new one!" said Nora beaming brightly

"Oh, then let's hear it." Yang said now perking up from her argument with Jaune.

Nora cleared her throat, "Alright so it started out with all of us and Weiss on a plane, and we were all just talking and having a good time but then it started to get really humid in the plane, and then boom! The engine blew up and we all jumped out of the plane! Then there was a lot of yelling and we were getting all angry and tense and then Ruby and Weiss got on a rollercoaster and the rest of us got in a hot air balloon and Ruby and Weiss were all like 'rawr rawr I hate you!' And Blake and Ren had top hats and mustaches and they were all like 'Yes yes.' While they were rubbing their hands all sinister like. And then there was a blizzard!" Nora was now standing with one foot on the bench and the other on the table. "And then everything got quiet and sad, but then there was a really cool butterfly so I followed it for a while and then there was a big jerky caveman and he was fighting with an ice sculpture and then he broke it and Ruby got a bunch of super glue and tried to put it back together and then I got bored and I started following a squirrel that was like a piñata or something and then there was an explosion!" Nora sprang up onto the table, to Ren's dismay.

"Nora get down people are staring. And I can see up your skirt." Ren pleaded as he tried to avert his eyes.

Nora bent down and put a hand over Ren's mouth, "Don't interrupt! Now where was I?… Oh yeah! And then the sun turned blue and then a cardinal flew into the sun and everything went dark. And then there was a big cat fighting a pile of snow so I got some popcorn and watched that for a little but it got boring fast so I went somewhere else. And then there was a bunny and it was really cute so we all gathered around it but then Weiss was a meanie and she yelled at it so we tied Weiss to a Beowolf and sent her into the forest!" Nora jumped down from the table and was now lying across the laps of Blake, Yang, and Ruby. "Oh, hey Ruby, having a nice morning?"

"Umm, yes" Ruby replied, extremely confused by Nora's ludicrous story.

"Awesome! Now where was I?" Nora asked beaming at Yang.

"Uh something about Weiss and a Beowo-"

"Oh yeah thank you, So then a huge owl came out of the sky and then there was a laser light show and then there was a huge flash of red and then it started to snow a little and when I could see there was some pretty flowers… But I got bored of those fast so I pulled out Magnhild and jumped on a Nevermore and lead an army of jetpack Ursa into space so we could kick Jaune in the crotch!" Nora shouted proudly as she squatted in the center of the table.

"Wait what?!" Jaune shouted confused and angry.

"No one wakes me up when I'm dreaming!" Nora shouted back at him still beaming with pure joy.

"Then why didn't you kick Ren there?"

"Because, Ren's my best friend, and my only exception." She leaned in close to Ren, and poked his nose, "Boop."

"If I'm an exception then why did you kick me in the stomach?" Ren said with an eyebrow raised.

"You still tried to wake me up, and there's no excuse for that."

Ren tried to muster up the energy to be angry, but just gave an exhausted sigh and a small smile. "Nora,"

"Yes Ren,"

"You should really get off of the table."

Nora giggled a little and jumped down.

'Those two would make a cute couple.' Ruby thought as Ren handed Nora an apple. 'I wonder what was up with her dream though.' Ruby thought as Nora's dream ran through her head. 'It's probably just Nora being Nora. You're reading into this too much.' As Ruby decided to push the thought out of her mind an infuriated Weiss stormed up to the table.

"What the hell happened to the door?!" Weiss shouted to her teammates.

Ruby tried to hide her smirk, but decided it was just best to turn away. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the door to our room is broken beyond repair. One of you is going to have to go talk to Ozpin about getting a new one."

"Why do we have to do it?" Yang asked with clenched fists and an angry stare.

"Because I was asleep so it's not my fault, meaning one of you three did it."

"We don't even know what you're talking about, so why don't you talk to Ozpin about getting a new door." Yang demanded angrily.

"Hey," Jaune interrupted, "Why don't you just use some freeze dust to fix the door?"

Weiss just stared at him blankly, "Wow I guess that dumb blondes thing really is true. Why would I use my dust to fix the door? You idiot,"

At Weiss's remark Jaune slumped in his seat and hung his head down in shame. Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder and clenched her other into a fist. Even Nora and Ren turned against Weiss giving her cold disapproving stares. But Jaune's teammates weren't the only ones to rally around their team leader; Yang had climbed over the table and brought Jaune into a shoulder to shoulder hug.

After a couple curious glances Yang gave a serious and stern reply, "You insult one blonde, you insult all blondes."

"Uh, thanks I guess." Jaune said both confused and grateful.

Ruby couldn't tell whether she should be happy that Yang was defending Jaune or disappointed that she was doing it for such a stupid reason. But Weiss was at the center of Ruby's attention right now, 'I mean seriously, is she trying to lose the rest of her friends? What's wrong with her?'

A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed before Weiss decided to give up and just sit down a couple feet to Ruby's left.

'Is she serious?' At this Ruby stood up, walked behind Blake and placed her tray to Blake's right and sat down. She locked eyes with Weiss and tried to tell her through pure eye contact that she was done with her. She didn't want to put up with her cold behavior and bad attitude. And as Ruby telegraphed this she only saw Weiss's bitter and cold eyes staring back at her. At this she just stared at her eggs and tried to push the image of Weiss's eyes out of her mind.

Ruby didn't want to look up from her breakfast but she heard Weiss stand up and walk away. Weiss made Ruby feel empty on the inside but she also made her stomach upset to the point that she couldn't eat the rest of her breakfast. Ruby just sat in silence as everyone ate the rest of their breakfast. When everyone was done eating Ruby stood up and tried to force a smile.

"So, let's go to class." Ruby said glancing between Blake and Yang. The three girls exchanged some depressed glances, but wordlessly agreed and headed off towards class.


	7. Chapter 7

Ruby struggled to pay attention as their Advanced Strategy and Tactics teacher droned on about how an adult Ursa should be distracted from the front while another teammate flanks from the rear. But right about now all the words seemed to jumble together as Ruby shifted between barely paying attention to thinking about how she was going to pull off her "Friends with Weiss" charade around Yang and Blake. Blake had tried to talk to her about it on their way to class, but Ruby "remembered" that she let Jaune borrow her textbook a couple days ago. Well at least that's what she convinced Yang and Blake before she ran off down the hall looking for her fellow team leader.

Unfortunately Ruby never thought out the rest of her plan because as soon as the two girls arrived to class they were raising an assortment of questions that caught Ruby completely off guard. The one she struggled to answer was, "Why did you run off looking for Jaune if we have the same class as him?" Yang said as she pointed to Jaune sitting across the room waving at the first sign of recognition. Luckily the professor walked in just before Ruby could blurt out some ridiculous excuse.

'Okay if I tell them I wanted to get my textbook from Jaune without them because he was afraid Yang might be angry at him for that joke from earlier they'd believe that… Right?' Ruby quickly glanced between Jaune and Yang, and let out a deep sigh. 'Who am I kidding Yang doesn't hold grudges and Jaune probably wouldn't mind losing a tooth over that joke.'

"Ms. Rose! Would you mind answering my question?" Professor Chaux chimed, with a small amount of anger in her voice.

'Oh crap!' Ruby had almost forgotten that she was in the middle of class "Umm can you," She cleared her throat a little, before responding in a small voice "repeat the question?"

The professor let out an exhausted sigh, "What is the best way to assault multiple Ursa if you happen to be alone, Ms. Rose?"

Ruby felt like a complete fool everyone in class was staring at her and she was just sitting there clueless. 'Say something! Say what you would do.'

"Umm you should attack from above…" 'Please be right, please be right, please be right!'

Professor Chaux let out a small sigh, "Although that goes against my recommendation, I suppose that could work. But, Ms. Rose please pay attention." She said quickly before Ruby could internally celebrate her lucky guess.

Ruby hung her head in shame for a few moments before picking up a pencil and starting to write some notes.

'This situation with Weiss isn't helping me in class. I got to put it behind me or I'm going to start falling behind.' She looked up and saw Professor Chaux gesturing to weak points on a large stuffed Ursa. 'I should apologize to her after class, I was a little rude.' Ruby thought as she wrote down a few more notes.

The rest of class went rather quickly once Ruby started to write down notes and before she knew it class was dismissed. Ruby had about twenty minutes before her next class was going to start so she decided this was the best time to apologize.

"Hey Ruby, are you coming or what?" Yang shouted from the doorway.

"Go on ahead I'll catch up." Ruby responded quickly. Yang raised an eyebrow in curiosity but shrugged it off and started to walk towards their next class.

Now the only ones left in the class were Ruby, the professor, and a stuffed Ursa (But he probably couldn't hold a very lively conversation).

Professor Chaux sat at her desk and shuffled through a few papers, which Ruby assumed were essays. She had light green eyes and brown hair that complimented her rosy face nicely. She didn't look older than forty but she had an extremely somber face that lead Ruby to believe she might be older. She wore a lime green and silver dress and a pair of reading glasses. She looked up from an essay quickly and saw Ruby standing directly in front of her desk.

She let out a small sigh, "Yes, what is it?"

Ruby was taken back slightly by her tired reply, "I wanted to apologize for earlier." Professor Chaux looked up from a paper to meet Ruby's gaze. "I should have been paying attention."

The professor looked Ruby up and down before leaning back in her chair, "It's alright, but please pay attention and don't waste my time Miss Rose."

Ruby flinched a little and bowed her head, "Sorry." The professor just responded with a small warm smile. Her smile passed quickly though after Ruby stood up straight and began to get ready to leave.

"Is everything alright Miss Rose?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby said slightly confused.

"You seem… uneasy." She said as she removed her glasses.

"I'm fine, Professor Chaux."

She leaned forward on her desk and raised an eyebrow, but let it fall after a couple of moments. "If you say so."

At this Ruby began to walk towards the door, "Miss Rose," Ruby turned to see Professor Chaux reclined in her chair. "If you ever need to talk, my door is always open." She said as she gave Ruby a warm smile.

Ruby returned the smile and gave a nod in recognition, before walking out the door towards her next class.

Ruby's next class was Combat Practice with Professor Goodwitch so she was torn between being excited over a good fight and being nervous about sitting next to Weiss for the whole class.

Unfortunately the decision was pretty simple, because as soon as she arrived at the hall in her normal clothes she found Weiss and Yang in a heated argument about how Yang's clothes serve almost no purpose in a fight.

'She can't even go five minutes without starting a fight!' Ruby ranted internally.

"Oh so your little skirt and high heeled wedge boots have sooo much purpose in combat?"

"My combat skirt allows for mobility and boots give me stability during a fight."

"That's a load of crap and you know it.

"Well at least it has more purpose than your scanty top and extremely short shorts. Then again they probably have some purpose other than combat."

"What are you getting at?"

"I think you know what I'm getting at, and a majority of the guys probably know what you're putting out as well."

'Did she just?'

"I'm going to break every bone in your body you stuck up bitch!" Yang shouted as Ember Celica began to activate.

'Oh crap!' "Yang don't!" Ruby shouted as she sprang between Yang and her soon to be dead teammate.

"Ruby get out of the way!" Yang shouted furiously.

"No, she's not worth it." Ruby pleaded, as she imitated a wall.

Yang opened her mouth ready to shout at Ruby again, but Weiss began to walk off into the hall paying no attention to the two sisters. Yang grinded her teeth in rage and Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder to let her know she wasn't the only one who was irritated. Ruby stood there with Yang to allow her some time to calm down, but that was interrupted when they heard a loud thump come from inside the hall. They went inside to check and saw Weiss lying on the floor and Cardin scratching his head a few feet from her.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, you brainless ape?!" Weiss shouted indignantly at Cardin.

"Hey, you ran into me, princess." Cardin replied, with a bitter tone.

"As if, you were busy talking to your brain dead teammates when you came out of nowhere and knocked me over like some bumbling imbecile."

Cardin clenched his fists while Sky and Dove gave each other infuriated glances.

"Who you calling brain dead, Schnee?" Cardin replied holding back Russel with one hand.

"If I have to repeat myself then my first remark must have been accurate." Weiss said coldly before walking off towards team RWBY's usual spot.

Ruby let out a small sigh, 'What's her problem?! She's just starting fights now.' Ruby said internally, she stared at Weiss for a good few seconds and played the previous nights argument through her head again. 'You know what, it's not my problem. She can pick all the fights she wants now.' Ruby said defiantly.

It was only a few more minutes until Professor Goodwitch came into the hall and brought the students to order.

"Good morning students, we're going to get right into combat today. As usual the computer shall decide which two students will be in our first match." At that she began to press keys on her Scroll and two blank rosters appeared on the large monitor in the hall. Another key was pressed and faces began to quickly run faces through the blank rosters until it slowed and landed on two familiar faces that almost made Ruby gasp. The monitor read, "Cardin Winchester vs. Weiss Schnee" and the portraits helped confirm that it wasn't some other Weiss Schnee.

Ruby looked over to Cardin who was whispering something to Russel while wearing an evil smile. Ruby turned to Weiss to warn her about Cardin and wish her luck, but she decided against it at the last minute.

'She can handle herself. She doesn't need our help.' Ruby said to herself as Weiss took position at the center of the stage. Cardin casually sauntered onto the stage shortly after wearing a smug and suspicious smile.

Professor Goodwitch stepped forward midway between Weiss and Cardin, "Alright, the fight will begin on my mark. The use of Semblances and Dust are permitted. The fight ends when either of your auras reaches critically low. Good luck to the both of you." The professor walked a safe distance away from the two competitors and pulled out her Scroll, "Weapons draw!" At this Weiss unsheathed Myrtenaster and took an offensive position in a flash, while Cardin drew his mace gripped it with both hands and raised the handle above his head and the club part downward towards Weiss.

"Begin!"

Weiss lunged forward towards Cardin at her top speed. Cardin swung downward at the ground smashing the stone floor into chunks and dust that filled the air. Weiss ended up lunging right into the cloud of dirt and becoming suffocated as it filled her eyes and lungs. She began to make a glyph to jump out of the cloud, but was immediately stopped when a fist struck her on the back of the head knocking her to the ground.

'She'll be fine.' Ruby told herself as she saw Weiss' aura drop slightly. She couldn't see through the thick cloud of dirt but she knew that Cardin had the upper hand.

Weiss didn't expect Cardin to be so tactful and never expected that she'd have to roll her way to freedom. Weiss tried to think of her next move as she rolled over stone and debris to freedom. As soon as she got out of the cloud she sprang to her feet and pointed Myrtenaster at the cloud. She took a couple steps back and switched the Dust chamber on Myrtenaster to Freeze. She raised her blade to send a blast through the cloud, but multiple stones flew out of the cloud forcing her to dodge. Cardin suddenly burst out of the cloud and swung his mace at Weiss striking her blade and causing her to lose her balance. Just as she began to fall Cardin grabbed her wrist, lifted her into the air, and threw Weiss on her back. She pulled herself off the ground and shifted into a fighting position. 'I never thought I'd have to use this against someone like Cardin.' Weiss thought as she shifted her Dust chamber to Burn.

She gave him a brief glance and blasted the Dust at him. Cardin stared straight into the beam headed straight towards him, he raised his arm and struck the Dust out of the air.

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed confused by Cardin's actions.

"Neat trick, huh?" Russel said smugly. Ruby jumped slightly at this comment because she didn't notice he was kneeling right behind her. "Cardin's semblance almost completely nullifies the effects of Dust. Which means your friends weapon is almost completely useless right about now."

Ruby could only stare with a slight sense of panic about Weiss' current situation. 'You really shouldn't care, she'll be fine. And besides she probably wouldn't care if it were you up there.' Ruby said to herself trying to calm herself down.

Meanwhile Cardin decided to take advantage of Weiss' shocked nature, and advance on her in her current state. Weiss began to come out of shock to find Cardin was only a few feet away from her. She snapped out of it and stabbed at him with Myrtenaster only for it to become intercepted in the head of his mace. He spun his mace, twisting Weiss' arm until she was at the threshold of screaming. 'I need to hang on or I'll be defenseless.' Weiss pleaded to herself, but it was a useless plea because at that moment Cardin took a hand off his mace, punched Weiss in the cheek, sending her to the floor and her rapier across the stage.

Ruby dug her nails into the stone bench as Weiss fell to the floor. 'She'll be okay, she'll be okay, look her Aura is almost at critical. Professor Goodwitch will end the match any second now and she'll be fine.' She looked down at her Scroll and saw that Weiss had about fifteen percent of her Aura left, but the screen blacked out for a second before coming back on to reveal Weiss having THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT! She looked up in horror to see that it wasn't on her screen alone but on the main screen as well.

Weiss Stumbled onto her hands and knees and looked at Cardin with defiance. She pushed herself up with the last of her strength to rush forward and punch Cardin. But he got her fist with ease and jabbed her stomach with his knee, knocking Weiss to her limit, as she recoiled from his last move he threw a left hook, sending her to the ground with a small amount of blood coming out of her mouth.

Ruby wanted to scream. She could barely believe what she just saw. And now she was just sitting there staring blankly at her unconscious teammate.

"That's enough!" Shouted Professor Goodwitch, "I'm not quite sure what happened to our systems, but Miss Schnee is far past twenty-five percent!" She rushed forward and picked up Myrtenaster before kneeling at Weiss' side, "Cardin Winchester, report to Professor Ozpin's office at once!" She pointed Myrtenaster at the entrance at the hall to emphasize how serious she was.

Cardin jumped down from the stage and began to casually stroll off towards the entrance.

Ruby glanced at him furiously, 'That-that-that jackass! He could have seriously hurt her! How dare he even touch her!' Ruby couldn't take it anymore, she jumped out of her seat and sprinted onto the stage coming to kneel at Weiss' side across from Professor Goodwitch.

"Is she okay?" Ruby demanded, almost n the verge of tears.

"She's starting to come to, but she needs to be taken to the infirmary at once."

"I'll take her." Ruby said without hesitation.

Professor Goodwitch brought Weiss into a sitting position which caused her to cough up a little blood.

"Easy now, Miss Schnee. I'll inform the nurses you're on your way down there, be careful."

"Of course," Ruby said as she slung Weiss' arm over her neck and helped her into a standing position. She began to shuffle off the stage with Weiss leaning against her for support when Weiss almost tripped on some debris as they walked down the steps, but Ruby pulled her up and let Weiss' head rest against hers.

"Don't worry Weiss, I've got you."

'You know she probably wouldn't do this for you.' Ruby thought as she helped Weiss across the hall. 'It doesn't matter if she wouldn't help me. You know what, I don't care if she's not my friend. I'm her friend, whether she likes it or not.'

At this Ruby pulled Weiss in a little closer and gave her a one armed hug which caused Weiss to cringe.

"Sorry," Ruby said, innocently as they shuffled down the hall towards the infirmary.


	8. Chapter 8

The infirmary was fairly quiet except for a nurse who was almost panicking as she checked on Weiss' condition. Every few seconds she'd pull out a pen and write down some notes on her medical chart before going back to examine her. Ruby just sat in a chair at the front of the infirmary hoping for the nurse to report that Weiss was okay. Eventually Ruby got tired of watching the nurse tending to Weiss then jotting down some notes and decided to just stare at her boots.

'I'm starting to wear out the heels on my boots maybe I should buy a new pair. Maybe Yang knows a good cobbler.' Ruby gave a small sigh and reclined back in her chair slightly 'Wow, way to prioritize shoes over your injured teammate. Nicely done, you fantastic leader.' Ruby leaned forward slightly 'I already brought her to the infirmary there's not much for me to do now except wait now.' Ruby stared at the unconscious Weiss for a few seconds. 'Weiss is going to be alright. She's tough enough to pull through a little fight. I'm just surprised a douche like Cardin could beat her so easily.'

Ruby clenched her fist in pure rage almost causing her nails to cut into her palm. The first thing Ruby wanted to do after getting Weiss to the infirmary was track down Cardin and break every bone in that smug jerk's body. Then Ruby thought about the fact that she'd be leaving her injured friend all alone while she went out and got some petty retaliation. And as much as breaking Cardin's face would have made her happy she decided that being there for Weiss was the best thing to do.

So now Ruby just sat there kicking her legs back and forth for fun. When her legs inevitably got tired she attempted to recreate the rhythm to her favorite song by tapping her fingers on her chair. She got bored of this before she even reached the bridge of the song and just collapsed in her chair with a sigh of exhaustion.

"Ugh, I hate hospitals." Ruby muttered under her breath so the nurse wouldn't hear her. Ruby really didn't hate hospitals though, they just bored her. To her they were just that place you would go to if you got seriously injured so they could bandage you up and tell you "you will be alright in a couple days".

But it was courteous to wait with somebody, in case they needed support or someone to help them. Ruby took a second to think about if she might get Blake or Yang to come wait with her, but Yang was probably still angry at Weiss. Blake on the other hand would be perfect to come down and wait with her. Blake wasn't angry at Weiss, she needed to be updated on the entire situation, and if conversation fails she'll probably have a spare book that Ruby could read.

Ruby reached to her side to grab her scroll and after patting around her belt a few times she realized she didn't have it.

'Where's my scroll?!' Ruby thought to herself before remembering she tossed it aside when she ran up to help the unconscious Weiss earlier. Ruby let out a defeated sigh 'Nice job at remembering to bring one of your most important tools, Ruby.' She thought as she kicked herself for her forgetfulness.

Ruby began to slouch in her chair, already done with this truly abysmal day when the nurse began to walk over to her. Ruby immediately perked up and scooted to the end of her seat, ready to hear a diagnosis.

"Well Miss Rose I have some good news for you."

Ruby cheered internally and nodded a couple times to show that she was listening.

"Miss Schnee only sustained a couple broken ribs and is heavily bruised on her back, stomach, and face. I've determined that she should be fine to leave in about two days, we have to make sure her ribs heal adequately though."

Ruby gave a sigh in relief, "Thank you, Nurse." Ruby gave her a warm smile but looked over at Weiss who still wasn't moving. "Umm, will she being waking up soon?" Ruby asked raising an eyebrow in concern.

"She's been through a lot and she needs her rest. She'll probably be out for at least a few hours."

"Oh, right." Ruby slouched back in her chair and stared at Weiss. She wanted to try and patch up their friendship a little since they were alone, but it was very apparent that was going to have to wait. "Uh would it be too much to ask if you could tell me when she wakes up?"

The nurse gave a small smile, "Of course not, a lot of teams ask the same question when another student gets injured. I'll send an update to your Scroll when she wakes up."

Ruby gave her a warm smile, "Thank you, Nurse." Ruby stood up and began to walk towards the exit but stopped suddenly.

'I should probably say goodbye to Weiss before I leave.' Ruby gave a glance over her shoulder, 'But she isn't even awake so I don't want to disturb her.' Ruby rocked back and forth a little awkwardly until she decided it was best for her to leave.

As Ruby left the Infirmary Weiss closed her right eye and let out a small painful sigh. Weiss had woken up a few minutes into her examination due to a few painful movements by her nurse. She looked around to see she had somehow ended up in the infirmary and that Ruby was waiting at the front of the room. It only took a second to put two and two together and realized that Ruby had brought her there.

'She brought me all the way here. Even after the way I've been treating her?' Weiss smiled a little but let it fade as she turned to stare at the ceiling. Weiss hated how she had to do it, but she had to do it. She couldn't let Ruby know how she actually felt, and if that meant ruining their friendship then Weiss would just have to bear through it.

It only took a few minutes, and in Weiss' opinion a few too many, for the nurse to notice that Weiss was awake. The nurse opened her mouth to ask her something but Weiss signaled her to be quiet before glancing at Ruby quickly in hopes she didn't hear them.

Weiss let out a sigh, "Could you continue my examination as if I was still unconscious." Weiss said in a hushed tone. The nurse raised an eyebrow in curiosity, warranting further explanation from Weiss.

"I don't want my teammate to know that I'm awake. Can you tell her that I'm still resting?" Weiss thought asking this to someone who could almost be considered professional was a little underhanded.

The nurse stared at her for a few minutes, trying to find what she was hiding and looked at Ruby for a few seconds, but then stared down Weiss for a few seconds before giving her a warm smile. "Alright, I'll give her my approximate diagnosis and tell her you won't be up for a while." And before Weiss knew it the nurse had headed over to tell Ruby Weiss' version of what was happening only giving her a few moments to close her eyes and pretend to be unconscious.

Weiss was a little surprised at how eager the nurse was to help her out. 'Well this does seem like a boring job. She probably doesn't have a lot to do since everyone just uses their aura to protect themselves.'

Weiss had to stare into pure nothing for a few minutes before the nurse gave her a tap on the shoulder and let her know Ruby had left. Weiss was a little relieved that Ruby was gone but had to admit she was already beginning to miss her, but she couldn't let Ruby know that. And the worst part was that Weiss was going to have to try and push her away harder then she already was. Weiss let out a sigh and stared at the door to the infirmary.


	9. Chapter 9

It was a fairly gloomy morning at Beacon, and the dreary morning light was beginning to crawl through the student kitchen. Ruby was slumped over on a wooden table with her facing resting in a small pile of flour. She let out a sneeze every now and then due to a little flour inhalation, but her wakeup call came in the form of a kitchen timer. Ruby jumped up and almost tripped over her boots, which she could've sworn she was still wearing. But she recovered from her fumbling and managed to reach the oven without bashing her head on the countertop. She turned off the oven and opened it up to allow the sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies fill the room.

Ruby reached forward to grab the tray but stopped herself right before touching the tray. This wasn't the first batch she had almost grabbed without any protection. In fact she was so excited about the first batch she almost gave herself second degree burns by grabbing the tray and holding onto it for a few seconds before sending the entire tray and the cookies flying across the room. Some concentrated Aura and cold water fixed her up and let her get back to replacing the cookies.

'Ha nice try tray but you're not going to get me a second time' Ruby thought as she concentrated her Aura around her hands and put the tray on the countertop.

Ruby sat back down in the chair and gave her cookies a few minutes to cool off as she put her boots on. She looked at the soles of her boots and grimaced at the fact that she didn't look around for a good cobbler while she was in town yesterday.

'Eh, you'll have enough time to do it this weekend, and maybe Weiss can come. She seems like the kind of person to know a good cobbler.' Ruby thought hopefully as she glanced over at a covered tray on the counter, a look of determination came into her eyes, 'One way or another I'll fix our friendship.' Ruby thought confidently, now rising to transfer her new batch into the covered tray.

Once all the cookies were rounded up Ruby looked out the window and admired a few beams of sunlight breaking through the clouds and illuminating the condensation on the window and warmly smiled as a couple of birds flew by the window.

Ruby took a deep breath and released a nice long breath, now happily staring at the playing birds. 'Birds are cool. I should take a picture of them, they're kind of cute.' Ruby opened her Scroll and almost jumped when she noticed that they were going to stop serving breakfast in about eighteen minutes. Ruby grabbed her batch of cookies and took off for the cafeteria in a paced rush, so she didn't damage the cookies.

The cafeteria was beginning to empty out as people headed off to get to class early or just lounge around before class. And to Ruby's distaste almost all the food was gone or cold so she grabbed a couple pieces of toast and an apple. Ruby let out a small tired sigh as she walked towards her usual breakfast spot. Luckily Yang, Blake, Ren, Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha were still sitting around and chatting.

"Good morning everybody, how are all of you doing today?" Ruby asked as she set down her tray and her plate. Ruby raised an eyebrow when no one answered her question, so after further examination she realized they were all staring at her and giggling, all except for Blake and Ren who just gave large smirks and tried to avoid eye contact with Ruby. "What's so funny?" Ruby blurted out as she looked back and forth at her friends.

"Well," Yang started, "The thing is…" Yang burst into laughter and leaned on Blake for support. "I-I can't do it Pyrrha you tell her." Yang sputtered out.

Pyrrha's face turned bright red as she straightened up and cleared her throat. "Umm," A large smirk crossed her face, "Umm, Ruby did you happen to look in a mirror or clean up before you came down here?"

Ruby became completely confused, "Uh, no. I spent all night baking and then I came down here for some breakfast."

The laughter had begun to peter out, but everyone still wore a large grin. "Well, I think you might have gotten a little something on your face." Yang said while trying to suppress a couple of giggles.

Ruby raised a hand and touched both of her cheeks and to her horror she found the left side of her face was covered in flour. Before Ruby could grab a napkin to wipe off her face she saw a couple of bright flashes and the horrific scene of Nora and Yang taking pictures of her in her amusingly disheveled state.

"Delete those!" Ruby shouted as she leapt at Yang to seize the Scroll from her, but was fended off with one hand and only minimal effort.

"Trust us, you'll laugh at this later." A small ping came out of Ruby's Scroll. Yang giggled a little, "I sent you one."

Ruby whipped out her Scroll and it revealed a picture of disheveled Ruby with bags under her eyes, flour all over her face, neck, and shoulder, crumbs and flour in her hair, and a line of wet doughy flour trailing down her cheek revealing that she was drooling in her sleep. Ruby wanted to throw her Scroll to the ground and tackle Yang for taking the damn picture but first she wanted to get it off her face.

After wiping her face a few dozen times with a couple napkins and shaking her hair out and running her fingers through it she managed to make herself look half decent. She snapped a picture of herself with her Scroll quickly which revealed her only real flaws now were the bags under her eyes, some messy hair, and some flour that she wouldn't be able to get off her blouse's shoulder and her cape without washing them.

Ruby just let out an exhausted sigh and began to eat a piece of cold toast.

"So, what were you baking, little sis?" Yang said, nudging Ruby with her elbow

"Cookies." Ruby replied sternly.

"Jeez you need to lay off the cookies, Rubes, or you're going to start gaining a couple pounds." Yang said with a proud smug grin.

"They're not for me, Yang, they're a gift for Weiss." Ruby snapped in frustration.

The table went silent as Ruby and Yang stared each other down. Yang was still angry at Weiss and wasn't too keen on the idea of Ruby trying to win back they're friendship. Luckily Yang didn't know that Blake was the one who told Ruby all the ingredients she needed to make the cookies before she went into town or this situation would be a lot more awkward.

"You shouldn't have to try and fix your friendship with her. She should consider herself lucky you put up with her crap to begin with." Yang said, glaring at Ruby coldly.

'She's not wrong I shouldn't have to do anything.' Ruby thought as she took a bite out of her toast. "Y'know what I can make my own decisions Yang and if I want to fix it, then I'm going to fix it and besides it's none of your business." Ruby said sternly before shoving the rest of her toast into her mouth and snatching up her tray of cookies and shoving her apple into her pocket.

Ruby got up to leave but Yang grabbed her by her hood. "Hey I'm not gonna just sit back and let my baby sister work herself insane to patch up some "friendship" where she gets treated like crap."

Ruby pulled her cape out of Yang's hand with a fast swoop. "I'm not asking you to protect me, so don't." Ruby bolted out of the cafeteria and made her way towards the Infirmary.

'She's right you know.' Ruby thought as she ran down the halls, now doubting her efforts.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Infirmary was serene and peaceful like it usually is in the morning, as light cascaded through the windows and bathed the stone floor and empty beds in sunlight. The nurse was taking a light nap at her station while her only patient finished her breakfast.

One good thing about being in the infirmary was not having to wait in line for food and ending up disappointed that someone else had already taken what you wanted. Weiss exhaled happily and reclined back into her mattress which was in a sitting position.

The nurse had told her that her ribs were healing up nicely and she should be out of the Infirmary before the end of the week. Weiss was enjoying a little time away from her team, it gave her time to think and relax.

Unfortunately for Weiss she wasn't going to relax today because right then Ruby came through the doors with a big smile on her face and a tray in her arms. There was no way Weiss could just pretend to sleep through this visit because Ruby saw Weiss sitting upright watching Ruby enter the Infirmary.

Weiss took a deep breath and gave Ruby a small wave and a small smile which caused Ruby to walk towards her at twice her initial speed.

"Hiya, Weiss, how're you doing?" Ruby said as she pulled up a chair with her boot.

"Well I'm recovering if that's what you mean." Weiss said trying to distance herself from Ruby.

"Oh… Well that's good. So how's your morning going? What kind of food do they serve in here?" Ruby said now looking at Weiss' empty plate.

"Eggs and sausage," Weiss turned away from Ruby, but after a subtle glance over her shoulder revealed that Ruby's smile was gone and she looked fairly uncomfortable Weiss gave a small sigh, "And my morning is going fine. It's pretty tranquil in here."

Weiss' response made Ruby perk up a little, but the conversation had now shifted into an awkward silence.

'Why is she quiet all of a sudden? She came to see me. She should be creating conversation.' Weiss thought as she examined Ruby who was now rocking back and forth in her seat awkwardly. The first thing that came into Weiss' mind was that Ruby looked terrible.

"Why are you such a mess?" Weiss asked inquisitively.

"Huh! Oh sorry well the thing is I stayed up late last night and I made you a get well soon gift." Ruby pulled the cover off of the tray she was carrying to reveal a large assortment of cookies, which appeared to be handmade.

"I-I-I-I…" Weiss stammered, now at a complete loss of words. 'Well how do you like that one Weiss? You're nothing but mean to her and she makes you an assortment of cookies. You don't deserve her.'

"I wasn't sure what kind of cookies you liked so I made you a bunch of different kinds. There's; Chocolate chip, Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Raisin, Snicker doodles, and some coconut macaroons." Ruby said pointing to each of the types of cookies and letting out a large yawn.

Weiss only stared in astonishment, but when she saw Ruby give her a concerned look. Weiss cleared her throat and gave Ruby a warm smile. "Thank you, Ruby."

Ruby just stared at Weiss with a fulfilled smile on her face and Weiss gave her a smile out of pure joy and stared right on back.

And they sat there staring.

And they stared.

And they stared.

And then it started to become extremely awkward so Weiss decided to break the silence by asking Ruby for a Snicker doodle.

"Oh, yeah sure." Ruby said forcing herself to laugh about what just happened.

Weiss took a bite into the cookie and fell into a state of pure bewilderment at how good her cookie was. She wanted to eat the rest of it in one bite but wanted to savor every second of its sweet sugary goodness.

"Umm Weiss," Weiss was suddenly pulled out of her dimension of savory goodness by Ruby who was blankly staring at her and fiddling with her thumbs. "I need to get some new boots and maybe pick up a little more ammunition for Crescent Rose so when you're feeling better do you want to come into town with me and go shopping?"

Weiss was lucky she had already swallowed her last bite out of her Snicker doodle or she would've coughed it up in pure shock.

'Is she asking me out on a date?!' Weiss thought running her eyes over Ruby again and again. 'She probably thinks I'm still just angry at her. Yeah that's it I'm just crazy. But I have to be distant I don't want her to think I'm eager about this.'

Weiss straightened up and cleared her throat and gave an exhausted sigh, "I'll think about it but I'll probably have more important things to do. We can't all slack off and skip homework like you Ruby." She glanced at Ruby to see what she had done and was torn to see Ruby slouch in her chair.

"Okay, I get it." Ruby said quietly now staring at her assortment of cookies.

'Oh Dust damn us all.' "But I might be able to push around my schedule for a little while and come with you." Weiss said quickly now turning to look away from Ruby. It killed her to make Ruby unhappy but it was for her own good, and she wouldn't have cut her any slack this time if it weren't for those cookies.

Ruby jumped up and placed the tray on her now empty chair, "Cool, I'm going to go do some homework before my next class." Ruby said as she began to walk backwards towards the exit. Ruby was doing pretty good to, until she tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her back.

"I'm okay!"

Weiss let out a sigh and shook her head, 'What a dunce.'


	10. Chapter 10

Before Weiss knew it, it was the weekend and she was supposed to meet Ruby for their little excursion into town in less than half an hour. Weiss had spent her last few days in the Infirmary trying to find a way out of her trip with Ruby, but so far all of her ideas were either too excessive or required changing her name which she decided against.

"So," the Nurse said suddenly, breaking Weiss' concentration as she laced up her boots, "Are you ready for your big date?"

Weiss turned bright red and crossed her arms to signal that she was infuriated. "It's not a date! I'm just going shopping with a friend."

The Nurse gave a small chuckle, "I'm just teasing ya' kid. You seem tense and I thought a joke would help lighten ya' up." The Nurse trailed off and muttered something Weiss couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Now can you come over here Miss Schnee, you need to sign a few forms before we can release you."

Weiss let her frustration subside, and she agreed to the Nurse's request and went over to sign the papers. Weiss wasn't angry at the Nurse, she just wanted this day to be over already.

"So your friend seems nice." The Nurse said trying to make small talk as Weiss looked over a few questions pertaining to her injuries.

Weiss scowled slightly at the Nurse but she wasn't wrong, Ruby was the kindest person she had ever met and there was just something about her that made her so inexplicably fascinating. But Weiss didn't want to admit that, not even to herself.

When Weiss was done filling out the paperwork she bowed to the Nurse, "Thank you."

"No problem. It's my job, and it's not like you were my most boring patient." She said wearing a broad grin and giving Weiss a nod.

Weiss gave a nod in return and started to walk towards the exit.

"Miss Schnee," Weiss turned around and saw the Nurse staring at her intently. "Make sure you relax a little, okay? Being stressed isn't healthy."

Weiss gave a nod in recognition and continued on her way.

'What's she talking, about I'm not stressed I am fine.' Weiss thought to herself as she pushed open the doors to the Infirmary, revealing her cape wearing teammate leaning against the wall, deep in thought.

The sound of the Infirmary doors opening snapped her out of her contemplation and brought Weiss to the center of her attention.

"Heya Weiss, ready to head into town?" Ruby shouted to the now distraught Weiss.

'Well now I know what the Nurse meant at least.' Weiss thought as she joined her rambunctious teammate. "Let's go Ruby, I don't want to miss our shuttle." Weiss said gesturing Ruby to follow.

"Okay, so I was thinking and I think we should go to the cobbler first because that'll probably take the longest and I brought my school shoes with me so we can go do some other stuff while they're fixing my boots. I think we should go get some ammo before we drop by the book store, Blake wanted me to get a novel for her and I wanted to pick up a couple of new weapons magazines, but then we can go wherever you want." Ruby said giving an almost unrealistically large smile to Weiss.

"Sure," Weiss said crossing her arms slightly and realizing she didn't have her purse with her. Weiss gave a frustrated sigh, "I need to go get my purse from the-"

"Taken care of!" Ruby shouted as she happily handed Weiss her purse.

"Oh," Weiss spouted purely dumbstruck by Ruby's attentiveness, but then a thought occurred "Wait, did you go through my stuff."

The broad grin faded from Ruby's face but a forced smile still lingered. "Yes I did. And I also saved you a trip back to the room and ensured that we wouldn't end up missing our shuttle so forget about it 'kay?" Ruby said with a hint of anger in her tone.

Weiss got the hint and thanked Ruby for grabbing her purse and attached the pouch to her belt in silence. Weiss gave a small sigh, 'This is going to be a long day.'

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Ruby's opinion her shopping trip with Weiss was going about as well as she expected. It started off kind of rough and Ruby considered punching Weiss in the ribs after she was positive she was going to call her a disrespectful privacy invader when she told Weiss she grabbed her purse, but that sorted itself out before it went downhill. Ruby couldn't do much about Weiss being dead silent for most of the trip into town, but the thing that stood out to her the most was when Weiss jumped about three feet away from her when they accidentally brushed their hands together while they were walking.

Weiss explained that she "didn't want Ruby to get her sleeves dirty." to which Ruby just laughed at and muttered an obscene insult under her breath.

Ruby was genuinely trying to forgive and forget about Weiss' rude remarks but the fact that she kept trying to open new wounds was just becoming frustrating.

Every time Ruby tried to justify Weiss' insults Yang's words reverberated through her head, "You shouldn't have to try and fix your friendship with her."Ruby grinded her teeth in frustration, 'She's my friend I should try and fight for our friendship.' Ruby thought as she clenched her hands into a fist.

'I'm not saying that you shouldn't, but should you really be fighting against her?'

Ruby stopped dead in her tracks. Weiss walked a few feet forward and stopped to see her team leader staring at the ground.

'Why am I fighting for this friendship? I'm not gaining anything. Now that I think about, it I think fighting for Weiss might be ruining my relationship with Yang, and my grades have probably been slipping a little. But Weiss is my teammate and… and… And what else?! Maybe I should-'

"Revenant to Ruby." Weiss said waving a hand in front of Ruby's face.

"Huh?"

"I asked you, why've we stopped in the middle of the street?" Weiss said, placing her hands on her hips.

Ruby returned her gaze to the street, "It's not important."

Weiss let out a sigh and started dragging Ruby by the hood.

"Hey what are you-" Ruby blurted out.

"We're going to go drop off your boots at the cobbler and then we're going to go to a café to have a little chat." Weiss said sternly, now dragging Ruby down the street and wearing out what little heel remained on her boots.

'Well at least I know why my boots got worn out so quickly.' Ruby thought as she allowed the heiress to drag her through the streets of Vale.

Ruby stared up quizzically at the silver sign, "The Amber Glass?"

"What?" Weiss said staring at Ruby intently.

"What kind of name is that?" Ruby said, now analyzing the red brick exterior and trying to glance through the dark tinted windows.

Weiss rolled her eyes, "Well what kind of name did you expect it to have?"

"I don't know maybe something with 'café' in it."

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, "You're such a dunce. Let's just go inside."

"Please, after you Miss High Society." Ruby said, bowing low with a large smirk spread across her lips. To Ruby's surprise Weiss didn't give a quick and witty retort to her mockery, but instead went inside without hesitation.

Ruby rose out of her bow and stared at the door, 'I don't think she even glanced at me. Usually something like that sets her off.' Ruby thought, now pushing the door to the café open. As Ruby entered the café her eyes began to water and her nose was filled with the thick heavy smell of cinnamon scented smoke.

'Oh Dust I think she's trying to kill me!' Ruby thought, as she coughed and rubbed her eyes.

Weiss let out a sigh of irritation, "For Dust's sake calm down, it's just incense." Weiss was experiencing something quite different compared to Ruby. She didn't look like the normal stuck up and formal Weiss, she looked relaxed and somewhat elegant.

Ruby took a couple deep breaths to better acquaint herself with the warm and sweet café air. "So, how'd you hear about this place?" Ruby said curiously, as she looked around the dim room trying not to catch the eyes of any of the current patrons enjoying drinks, some light conversation, and a little smooth jazz that Ruby couldn't find the source of.

"Blake and I go here every few weeks so we can just talk and relax." Weiss said as she began to walk towards a counter located at the back of the room.

"Oh well that's cool… I guess. So what do they have to drink here?"

"Well I usually get a 4 shot venti soy caramel macchiato with extra caramel."

Ruby just stared blankly at Weiss like she had been speaking in some kind of alien language. "Uh, I think I'll just get an espresso."

For a second Ruby could have sworn she saw a small smile on Weiss before she turned to talk to the barista, but she couldn't tell for sure due to the low light.

Once the girls had ordered their drinks they walked around the room until they came to a table they could agree upon. Weiss liked the vanilla incense and Ruby preferred it to the cinnamon ones spread around throughout the rest of the room.

Once they were comfortable Ruby decided to bring up the topic at the forefront of her mind. The one that she couldn't let go ignored any longer.

"So what's up with the prices here? Seems like a little expensive don't ya' think?" Ruby said, staring at here Caffé Mocha what'sit'sname.

"It's expensive because it's high quality." Weiss said as she held her cup with both hands and took a small sip.

"If this is high quality then I'm a Death Stalker." Ruby said pushing her glass cup away.

Weiss gave a tired sigh and placed her cup on the table. "Ruby," Ruby looked up to see Weiss looking at her with a slightly somber look on her face. Weiss opened her mouth to finish her sentence, but nothing came out. She let out another sigh and looked towards the incense which was slowly burning away.

"Is something wrong?" Ruby said her attention now focused solely on Weiss.

Weiss looked up from the incense and held her gaze on Ruby this time. "Ruby, I… want to apologize for how I've been treating you over the past couple weeks."

Ruby was taken aback by Weiss' sudden apology, admittedly she was surprised more by her own feelings about it. Ruby wasn't as happy about receiving it as she thought she would be. She thought she would be the one on the high horse for once, basking in her victory, but this wasn't a victory. She got what she wanted, but instead of savoring it she just wanted the moment to be over already.

Ruby gave Weiss a warm smile, "It's okay Weiss… I forgive you."

A few minutes passed in silence as the two girls enjoyed their drinks and the sweet aroma of vanilla.

Ruby thought these few minutes were almost perfect but there was something in Weiss' eyes that kept her opinion from being true. It looked like Weiss still had something to say. So Ruby waited patiently as they finished their drinks, but when they both finished she didn't say it.

Weiss checked her scroll for the time and suggested that they do the rest of the shopping before it gets too late. So Ruby complied and they left The Amber Glass without saying another word.

Ruby let out a small sigh and continued to walk down the streets of Vale with Weiss, the thought of Weiss' secrecy still lingering in her mind.

'If it's important she'll tell me.'


	11. Chapter 11

The evening sun painted Vale a beautiful shade of amber as Ruby and Weiss began to board the airship headed back to Beacon. Although Weiss came into town regretting that she had given into Ruby's pleas she ended up having a rather splendid time. There were still quite a few things bothering her though. She knew she would have to deal with them sooner or later and she couldn't keep ignoring them, she wanted to tell Ruby earlier but was overwhelmed by her own fear.

'She doesn't need to know, and honestly I'm probably wrong. I have to be. It's just-"

"Ma'am?"

"Huh?"

"I said I can't let you aboard unless I see your school I.D."

Weiss blushed out of embarrassment as she pulled out her Scroll for the boarding guard. "Sorry for keeping you waiting." Weiss said politely as she held out her Scroll for him to examine.

"Yeah well I'm not the only one you've kept waiting." Muttered the guard, now pointing to a few students lined up behind Weiss. Weiss was ushered into the airship before she could give a retort to the guard's fairly rude reply.

'I wasn't trying to hold up the line and he could have actually tried to get my attention. My standing in line shouldn't have slowed him down that badly, and if it did that's because of his own poor work ethic.' Weiss thought to herself as she walked past a few rows of seats.

"Hey, Weiss!" Weiss turned to see Ruby sitting in one of the chairs waving at her. "I saved you a spot!"

"You do realize that we don't have to be seated during the flight, right?" Weiss said, crossing her arms. 'Honestly, it's like she doesn't think sometimes.'

"Well actually they prefer if you sit down during takeoff, because that's really the most dangerous part and they don't want people to lose balance and fall over. And since we've been walking all day I thought you would want to sit down and maybe put the bags on the floor."

'That's actually rather considerate and well thought out…'

"Well we have been walking a lot so I guess we could sit down." Weiss said as she walked over and took the seat to Ruby's left, while trying not to sit too close to her.

Weiss put her elbow on the arm rest and placed her chin in her hand as she waited for takeoff. She had a lot on her mind but didn't really want to think about it so she decided to glance around the cabin instead. When Weiss realized there was nothing eventful or interesting happening she inevitably decided to choose her final resort and start a conversation with Ruby.

Weiss took a deep breath and turned to see Ruby already staring at her. Weiss was taken aback slightly by Ruby's peculiar behavior. When a few, long, awkward seconds of silence passed by Weiss decided it needed to be asked.

"Ruby, why are you staring at me?" Weiss said suddenly, causing Ruby to turn away for a second.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you had a good time today." Ruby said, slightly nervous.

Weiss paused for a second, "Yes, it was… nice."

"Nice?" Ruby said with a faint look of disappointment on her face.

Weiss gave her a little smile, "Yes, nice." Ruby in turn returned a small smile and continued to stare at Weiss. Weiss cleared her throat and looked from side to side before she was able to tell her, "Umm Ruby."

"Yeah Weiss" Ruby said blankly.

"Can you stop staring at me, it's getting kind of creepy." Weiss said trying to be somewhat polite.

"Oh sorry, I was thinking about something." Ruby said turning to face forward, her cheeks a bright shade of red.

'Why is she acting weird all of a sudden?' Weiss thought now looking around the cabin again.

"Soooooooo did you see that guy in the weapons store?" Ruby said, attempting to make a return from her off-putting behavior

"Which one, there were dozens of guys there."

"The one with the goggles and a black and gold scarf."

"I think I saw him over by the ammunition."

"Yeah that sounds right. Well he kept bugging me about what brand of ammo he should choose."

"Why did he think you would know?"

"I don't know, and his weapon wasn't even close to Crescent Roses design. He had some kind of suppressed pistol or something. I think he was trying to make small talk."

"He sounds like an idiot."

"Yeah a little, but he did have a cool weapon so I guess that kind of makes up for that a little. He was also really shy," Ruby chuckled to herself a little "He was kind of cute."

Weiss sat up straight in her chair and tried to remain as nonchalant as possible. "So did he make a move or anything?"

'Make a move? What kind of question is that?'

"Nah he got his ammo and a buddy of his dragged him off when he started flirting with me. At least I think it was flirting, he said he liked how tall I was."

Weiss let out a small sigh of relief, but managed to pass it off as a yawn, "Well it's probably for the better, he sounds abnormal."

Ruby turned to look out the window, "Yeah, you're probably right."

Although the rest of the trip back to Beacon was mostly silent, Weiss couldn't stop thinking about that brief conversation. She ran it through her mind nearly a dozen times, but she couldn't stop thinking of that conversation. The way those words echoed through her head was almost painful. She was grateful that Ruby would try to start up a conversation every now and then, but those five words still lingered.

It wasn't much longer until the airship arrived at Beacon and to Weiss' surprise the school grounds were almost completely deserted. There were usually a few people walking through the courtyards, but the cold winter air had begun to deter students from wandering the grounds. Weiss didn't mind the cold air too much and the clear sky and lack of students made for a peaceful evening stroll back to their dorm.

The unyielding silence that covered the campus could have been called chilling if Weiss didn't find it so relaxing. Weiss wasn't really one for unnecessary noise, all it really did was distract her from enjoying herself or relaxing. She did enjoy music though, it just required the right ambiance and although parties weren't exactly her cup of tea she managed to find solace in good conversation. When they finally got to their dorms the only real difference from the ominous void outside was that the dorm building was warm.

"So," Ruby said as they began to climb the stairs, "Do you think you'll want to head into town next weekend?"

'Say no! I shouldn't have even gone today. Just say no. Just say no.' Weiss looked over her shoulder to better telegraph her message, and was met with an innocent smile and Ruby eagerly awaiting her reply.

Weiss looked forward, "Maybe." Weiss kept a calm demeanor, but on the inside she was screaming 'What the hell! Maybe?! What part of "no" do you not comprehend?'

"Alright, well I'll start planning things we can do and maybe Blake and Yang can come and it'll be like old times." Ruby said cheerfully, now swinging her bags back and forth as she skipped up the stairs.

Weiss forced some fake laughter, "Yeah just like the old times." She said halfheartedly as she reminisced memories from a few weeks ago.

When they arrived back at their room the first thing Weiss did was walk over to her bed and sit down. Although her walk through Vale was somewhat enjoyable, Weiss concluded it was tiring above all else.

"Hi Weiss, Ruby, did you two have a nice day?" Blake asked, now closing a light purple book and placing it under her pillow.

"Yep," Ruby said, now completely ecstatic, "we got my boots fixed, I got some more ammo for Crescent Rose, I got the new "Hunters Elite Arsenal" magazine, picked up your book, and Weiss and I got coffee at some snooty café." Ruby placed her bags on one of the desks and pulled out Blake's book.

"Snooty?! The Amber Glass was by no means snooty." Weiss said, giving Ruby an offended glare.

"You took her to The Amber Glass?" Blake said, raising an eyebrow.

"I thought a little culture would do her some good." Weiss said crossing her arms.

An unsettling growl arose from Yang's bunk which caused Ruby and Weiss to look up at Yang's bed, confused and slightly startled. Blake didn't pay Yang any attention though and tried to keep the conversation flowing like Yang wasn't there.

"So, are you feeling better after your stay in the Infirmary?" Blake asked out of the blue.

"Yes, the nurse was nice and she did more than enough to help me recuperate quickly." Weiss said, slightly distracted by the blonde brawler.

"I'm sorry I didn't come visit you, I was busy helping Yang study for a test."

"It's alright, I enjoyed some time to myself."

Weiss' statement was followed by Yang muttering something unintelligible in a low tone. Weiss had had enough of just ignoring the elephant in the room and thought it was about time to bring Yang into this.

"I'm sorry what was that, Yang?" Weiss said, in a slightly frustrated tone.

The room went dead silent. Yang sat up in her bunk and swung her legs over the side. "I said I think everyone benefited from having some time away from you and your bitch fits."

"Excuse me?!" Weiss said caught completely off guard by Yang's outburst.

"You heard me." Yang jumped down from her bunk, "You go around like your Miss High and Mighty who just talks down to everyone and acts like they should prove themselves to you just so they can be your friend."

Ruby was obviously the most unsettled by Yang's rant, "Yang, you don't-"

Yang held a hand up for Ruby to be quiet. "It may be all fine and dandy with you Ruby, because you two made up or something, but you weren't the only one getting treated like crap. I deserve an apology, and we're not going out for a coffee. I want one right now."

'Who does she think she is?' Weiss thought her patience now completely exhausted.

"So what am I apologizing for? If it was about that comment I made the other day about you being loose I don't think you deserve an apology. Because really, who apologizes for the truth?"

Ruby gasped and the room fell dead silent.

'Okay that was a little much, but I think she got the message.'

"We put up with your bullshit everyday and I'm just supposed to put up with this? Where do you get off you arrogant self-absorbed-"

"Stop this!" Blake shouted, "Both of you should apologize to each other and-"

"Both of us!" Yang interrupted, "Why should I have to apologize, we would all be A-ok if Her Royal Pain in the Ass hasn't been startin' crap for the last couple weeks."

"If this is still about your defiled sanctity you should give it a rest, because you're not convincing anyone especially with the way you dress. I mean seriously even your hair makes you look like a tramp." Yang clenched her fist tightly. "What does every inch just represent another guy that s-"

The rest of Weiss' sentence was drowned out by a deafening scream from Yang who was now running towards Weiss with her fists clenched.

'Well I'm dead.'

But before Yang could separate Weiss' head from her body rose petals streaked through the air and Ruby was standing in front of Weiss with her arms outstretched.

Yang stopped dead in her tracks, her fists shaking slightly. Yang's eyes began to water, "Ruby move!"

"No!"

Yang's whole body was trembling as tears began to flood her eyes. "Move, Ruby!" But Ruby just shook her head furiously in disobedience. Yang ran for the door and bolted down the hall, tears flowing down her face.

Weiss tried to articulate words, but couldn't create anything sensible. The room remained as silent as a graveyard until Weiss forced herself to say something.

"R-ruby I-" But before Weiss could finish her sentence Ruby spun around and slapped Weiss across the face. Tears and a miserable tortured expression was all Weiss saw before Ruby ran out the door after Yang.

Weiss stumbled backwards and fell onto her bed, shocked at what had just happened. There were a few footsteps and the door to the room was closed. Blake walked back to her bed and sat down parallel from Weiss.

"We need to talk." Blake said glaring at Weiss, fury present in her yellow eyes.

Weiss just sat there unaware as to what was happening, "Talk about what?"

Blake gave an irritated sigh, "We're going to talk about your poor behavior over the last couple weeks and about what just happened. So let's start with what you just did."

"I-I had every right to respond the way I did."

"No, you didn't." Blake said, trying to repress her own emotions.

"Didn't you hear how she was talking to me?"

"I did and you do deserve an apology for that, but you started all of this and Yang also deserves an apology." Blake said calmly, her eyes fixated on Weiss.

"Yang can handle a few insults."

"Is that why she ran off crying?"

"I thought…" Weiss thought about what exactly she just did and let out a little sigh, "I didn't think she would be that offended."

'You weren't thinking. It was just an insult here, and an insult there, and they all leave you alone.'

"Of course you didn't, it's just second nature now isn't it? Insulting and disrespecting everyone you can just so you can push Ruby away."

Weiss' eyes widened and she crossed her arms to close herself off. "W-where would you get such an absurd idea?"

"For someone who's trying to keep a secret you've been doing a very poor job."

Weiss slouched slightly and tried to avoid eye contact with the raven haired interrogator, "What are-"

"I've seen the way you look at her, you're constantly watching her."

"No I-"

"You hang on her every word, don't you?"

Weiss remembered back to those first few days. She couldn't help but stare at her and listen to everything she said, even if it was stupid.

"You're obsessed with her and you don't want to be."

"No, you're wrong!" Weiss muttered, her blood now boiling as she tried to repress all those thoughts, all those emotions, all those dreams.

"Admit it Weiss, you like-"

Weiss couldn't take it, "I AM NOT A LESBIAN!" Weiss shouted, now standing with her fists clenched and breathing heavily. Blake was wrong. Her emotions were wrong. They had to be.

Blake just stared at Weiss, the anger in her eyes was gone and all that remained was pity.

"Weiss, I'm not going to bring that into question, but all I know is that this team is in trouble and you need to do something." Blake stood up and went to the dresser. She began to silently change into her night gown as Weiss stood next to her bed still fuming. "I'm going to get some sleep, I suggest you do some thinking, and Weiss… be honest with yourself."

Weiss wanted to make some kind of rebuttal, but Blake's final words smothered her rage.

'I've been honest… Haven't I?' Weiss fell backwards onto her bed. 'If by honest you mean trying to think of excuses and explanations while irritating everyone around you then sure you've been completely honest.' Sheer exhaustion began to set in as Weiss slowly closed her eyes, 'But I can't tell them… Especially her… But she needs to know… I can't lose her."


	12. Chapter 12

The only sound that filled the hallways was the sound of Ruby's heavy footsteps bouncing off the walls. Ruby felt as if she was going to be sick. Her eyes were burning, her ears were ringing, her mind was buzzing like an insane rapier wasp, and her hand was sore. Her hand hurt but it felt like someone had dropped brick on her head and punched her in the stomach.

'You're a horrible sister. You didn't even stand up for her.' Ruby thought, as she ran down the stairs in pursuit of Yang.

'I had to protect Weiss.' Ruby pleaded internally as she descended the stairs.

'Why? Everything Yang said was true. Why are you defending Weiss?'

Ruby was completely clueless and only offered herself the usual "because we're friends" as an explanation. She tried to shift her focus onto finding Yang, but now she couldn't stop looking for a better reason. Something that actually made sense.

'We were starting to get along again.' She remembered her conversation at the café ', and I could see it in her eyes… she was having fun.' She remembered Weiss' smile.

The memory of Weiss insulting Yang returned to Ruby as she burst through the dormitory exit. The cold night air and that nightmarish conversation caused Ruby to tremble uncontrollably. Ruby was angry, sad, confused and her head was throbbing rapidly as she stumbled over towards the nearest shrub and threw up. She fell to her hands and knees and tried to steady her breathing as tears rolled off her face onto the cold ground.

The world came to a complete stop.

She couldn't handle this. It was insane.

Ruby sobbed slightly but attempted to brush the tears out of her eyes using her sleeve. She wanted to just lie there on the ground, but she knew she couldn't. It was her responsibility to find Yang.

Ruby managed to pull herself off the ground. She shuddered a little as she got to her feet and began to walk across the dark campus ground. The air was chilling and the only light sources were the moon and an occasional lamp post, but Ruby didn't need a lot of light to see where she was going.

She tried to think about what had just happened as little as possible as she searched for Yang. Ruby convinced herself to deal with it later, even though she didn't want to deal with it at all. Ruby stopped for a moment to look at the archway leading into the garden. She knew Yang was in there, but her mental state was highly debatable. Ruby clenched her cape and took a deep breath.

Ruby walked into the garden and made a beeline for the rose bushes. This was the first place that came into Ruby's mind when Yang bolted out of the room. And just as Ruby predicted Yang was curled up against a hedge with her eyes fixated on the roses. Given the occasion, if it wasn't so serious, it would be kind of adorable that Yang came here. Ruby took a couple of steps towards Yang.

Yang turned to see her sister and glared at her with contempt, "Go away." Yang's eyes revealed that she had done quite a bit of crying since she left the room and it wasn't hard to tell she wasn't in the mood for a conversation.

Ruby took a breath, "Yang," Yang turned away. Ruby slouched slightly; she took another breath "Yang, I'm sorry. I didn't want to take Weiss', side I just-"

"Just had to defend your good ol' pal Weiss who's always been there for ya'? Like when you broke your arm and needed someone to carry all your stuff for a couple of days? Or how about that time that bully wouldn't leave you alone so somebody had to teach you how to stand up for yourself?"

"Look, I know what Weiss said was mean and really out of line, but you were going to kill her."

Yang sat up slightly and crossed her arms. "Hell yeah I was going to kill her. D'y'know how often I have to put up with stuff like that? It's un-freaking-believable how often I have to put up with this and from someone like her, who demands that I put her on some kind of pedestal is where I'm drawing the line."

Ruby stared at Yang, studying her up and down. 'That's it? That can't be the full thing. There's more to it than that.'

Ruby sat down next to Yang and joined her in admiring the roses. She looked back to Yang but it was very apparent she was trying to avoid eye contact. "So, when do you think they're going to prune the roses?"

Yang gave an irritated grunt, "You're not supposed to prune roses in the winter. You prune them during spring."

"Are you sure?" An idea popped into Ruby's head and a sly smirk crossed her lips, "I don't think these roses are hardy enough to survive the winter."

"Yeah right, these are Westerland roses they'll be fine." Yang said, confidently brushing aside Ruby's statement.

"Hmm well I guess so, but at least those Olympiads are blooming nicely."

Yang sat up straight and looked around the garden extremely confused "That's impossible; Olympiads only bloom in the spring and summer!" After Yang confirmed the roses weren't blooming she managed to catch a glimpse of Ruby's smirk. "Oh haha very funny." Yang said, crossing her arms and lying back against the hedge.

Ruby snickered a little bit "You believed me for a second, huh?"

Yang shook her head, "No, I was just surprised at how poor your flower identification skills are."

Ruby could tell she was bluffing, but decided to roll with it. "Yeah I guess I'm not the best at it, but you had a good teacher." Yang got noticeably tense at Ruby's response. "I always wish I could've taken care of Mom's garden while she was away."

Yang looked slightly somber as she pulled her hair over her shoulder and began to stroke it.

Ruby let out a little sigh. She laid down on her back and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night and the lack of light revealed thousands upon thousands of shimmering stars. "Remember when Mom and Dad took us stargazing after you got into Signal? Dad kept trying to point out constellations and Mom kept correcting him." Ruby laughed a little, but it petered out after a few moments.

Ruby turned to her sister and saw that she was now hugging her hair but looked rather placid now. Ruby watched as she would slowly run her fingers through her luscious hair.

"Do you remember that time Dad thought my hair was getting too long so he tried to take me into town for a haircut? I didn't want one because I thought they'd end up ruining my hair." Yang said calmly.

Ruby chuckled a little, "He chased you through the house for twenty minutes."

"It felt like an hour for me." Yang chuckled a little and let out a sigh. "I remember when Mom walked into the middle of it picked me up and sat me down. She said she loved my hair and if anyone was going to cut it, it was going to be her." Yang tilted her head back and looked up at the infinite void.

"Is that why you wanted to separate Weiss' head from her body?" Ruby said curiously.

"No one trash talks my hair and Weiss…" Yang trailed off for a moment. ", went too far. It pisses me off when people I don't like insult me, but Weiss is my teammate. I trusted her."

At that moment Ruby had an epiphany. Ruby wasn't the only one plagued by Weiss' strange behavior. She didn't want to admit it but there was no denying it any further, Weiss was the problem and she needed to be taken care of.

"And another thing," Yang's outburst caused Ruby to snap out of her reflection. "I wasn't going to kill her; I was just going to mangle her." Yang laughed a little at her own slightly morbid joke while Ruby just shook her head. Once Yang stopped laughing she lay back on the grass and decided to partake in a little stargazing.

Between the ideas of Yang putting Weiss in intensive care and the realization that Weiss was responsible for all her team's drama a thought manifested in Ruby. "Hey Yang,"

"Hmm?"

"Are you sleeping outside tonight?"

"Ruby, if someone even mentions Weiss one more time I'm going to lose it. So I only see two options. One, I sleep in this garden, or two I throw the heiress out the window."

Ruby agreed on one thing, she had had just about enough of Weiss tonight and wasn't very motivated to crawl back upstairs and share her company for the rest of the night. Unfortunately for Yang, sleeping in the cold, slightly damp garden was out of the question.

"Maybe we can bunk with Jaune and the gang for the night?"

Yang shrugged and sat up, "Meh, it's worth a shot. But if they say no, I'm sleeping in the halls and no one is going to stop me."

"Deal." Ruby said cheerfully as she stumbled onto her feet. She helped pull Yang off the ground and they proceeded to walk out of the garden. On the way out of the garden Yang wrapped her arm around Ruby for a side hug.

"Thanks Rubes."  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Ruby knocked lightly on Team JNPR's door.

"Jaaaaaaaune." Ruby said in a quiet scream.

"Why are you talking like that?"

"People are trying to sleep."

"Yeah and we're trying to wake sleeping people so being as quiet as possible is counterproductive. So why don't you step aside and let me do this, okay sis'?"

"Well… Alright but try not to-"

Yang pounded on the door.

"Yo Jaune, wake up!" Yang said, with an extremely inconsiderate shout.

"Yang what are you doing?" Ruby said still trying to remain as quiet as possible.

"I'm trying to get their attention." Yang said, completely oblivious to what time it was.

"People are trying to-" The door to the room slowly creaked open and Jaune stood there staring at the two of them. "sleep."

"Hey, Ruby, Yang" Jaune said in an exhausted tone as he rubbed his eyes. "Is there something you two needed?"

"Actually yes, we were wondering if you and Pyrrha have been getting the best possible pleasure out of your sex life?" Yang said with a wide grin.

Ruby slapped her hand over Yang's mouth and shoved her foot in the door frame as Jaune attempted to slam the door. "I'm sorry about her, she's joking. We need a place to sleep tonight. Can we sleep here?" Ruby said through gritted teeth and a forced smile.

Jaune reopened the door to relieve Ruby of her pain. "Sorry about that,"

"It's my fault. I expected better from her." Ruby said; shuddering slightly as Yang began to lick her hand in attempt to regain her freedom to speak.

Ruby could tell Jaune was slightly bemused by the two of them but decided to ignore it. "So why can't you two sleep in your own room?" Jaune glanced between the two of them for an answer.

Yang grew noticeably tense, "We'd prefer not to explain." Ruby said innocently.

Jaune stared at both of them for a few seconds; he shrugged his shoulders "Eh, sure come on in."

'What? It was that easy?' Ruby thought, completely baffled by Jaune's response.

Before Ruby could inquire further Jaune beckoned them in and Yang followed without hesitation. Ruby walked in and saw Yang laying on one of the bed's chatting with Nora who was wearing pajamas covered in pigeons wearing top hats and monocles.

"-So I told him if you think this ship is going down you have yet to see the power of the macaroni saber! So then I pulled it out and was all like zwooo zwooo spap!"Nora said as she made frantic waving motions with her arms.

"Nora, go back to bed." Ren said warmly as he folded back the sheets on his bed and climbed in.

"Aww but I want to hang out with Yang and Ruby." Nora whined childishly.

"You'll have plenty of time to talk to them in the morning. Now go to bed or I won't make pancakes tomorrow."

Nora took a large gasp and dove into bed, "Goodnight!" Nora slammed her face into her pillow and began snoring softly. Ren just shook his head with a warm smile spread across his lips.

"Well, now that Nora's asleep let's all do the same. You two can sleep in my bed and I'll take the floor. Ren's making pancakes in the morning and if you need a change of clothes," Jaune yawned loudly in the middle of his sentence and fell to the floor.

"If you need a change of clothes just ask Nora or I." Pyrrha said, cheerfully finishing Jaune's sentence. "We always have plenty in case of Honey Mustard."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Honey Mustard?"

"That's a story for another time." Pyrrha said shivering slightly at some unseen atrocity.

"Okaaaaay." Ruby was fascinated and curious, but if they didn't want to explain she wasn't going to ask him to.

"Well I'm going to bed see you two in the morning." Pyrrha said as she arranged the blankets in a more comfortable manner.

"Hey why don't you and Jauney-boy share a bed tonight? If things get heated I'll be happy to film for ya'." Yang said giving a provocative wink to accompany her statement.

Pyrrha glared at Yang unhappily, Jaune mumbled something inaudible from the floor, and Ruby punched Yang on the arm.

"I'm sorry about her." Ruby said earnestly as she forced a pillow over Yang's face.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and giggled a little, "It's alright, goodnight Ruby… and Yang." A small amount of spite was evident in Pyrrha's tone.

"Thanks for letting us sleep here."

"Mhmm no problem." Pyrrha said sincerely, on Jaune's behalf.

When no thanks came from her sister, Ruby lifted the pillow to reveal that her attempt at suffocating her sister must have tired her out because she was drooling all over the sheets.

Ruby let out a relieved sigh, laid down, and stared up at the ceiling.

'What am I going to do? I thought everything was going to be better after I patched things up with Weiss. Things are no better than before.' Ruby crossed her arms and let out an exhausted sigh. 'There's only one option left if Weiss isn't going to change.' Ruby remembered all of her team's strife over the past weeks and realized just how exhausted she was.

'No… It's obvious what I have to do.' Ruby clenched her hands into fists and shut her eyes as tightly as possible. 'I just wish I didn't have to.' Ruby just wanted to sleep now, but she just couldn't get over what she was going to have to do.


	13. Chapter 13

The snow crunched lightly under Weiss' feet as she walked through the seemingly infinite blizzard; alongside a certain girl with a red hood. The air was blistering cold but it was as if Ruby seemed to radiate her own warmth, like a small bright-eyed sun. Weiss tried to keep her head down and avoid Ruby's gaze but as her teammate skipped along merrily, a quiet voice rang through the wind.

"Accept it."

Weiss bit into her lip. Ruby had stopped skipping and stood silently next to her teammate. The fear and doubt had begun to bubble in her like magma. Weiss was clutching strands of her hair with both hands and had begun to breathe heavily as her heart pounded against her chest.

"Weiss,"

Weiss looked directly into a pair of silver pools.

It was soothing just to know that she was there. She didn't want this to change and it felt like the world agreed as the sound of the wind had died out and the snow refused to fall to the ground. Weiss' mouth hung open as she stared longingly into her teammate's eyes and saw small reflections of herself staring back.

Weiss let out a sigh, looked at her boots, and reached forward; taking hold of Ruby's hand.

She didn't dare to look up until she heard something, a small giggle. She looked up and was greeted with a warm smile and Ruby's calm beautiful eyes. She returned the smile and they kept walking side by side. All of Weiss' worries began to melt away, now that she had her.

"This is wrong." A cold voice whispered into Weiss' ear.

She turned to Ruby and immediately realized that she was gone. She looked around and found herself in a long mirror filled hallway and Ruby was at the end.

Weiss began to sprint as fast as she could down the hall, the sounds of her boots pounding on the floor reverberated off the walls causing, Weiss to curse the fact that she couldn't out run this sound. She felt so tired, but was determined to reach Ruby, but the hallway only got longer as she ran and Ruby only got further and further.

The floor began to crumble under Weiss' feet as she ran until a mirror seized her attention. The mirror showed Ruby in a fit of tears while Weiss stood alongside and watched her suffer. Weiss took a step back and bumped into another mirror with the same image. She looked around quickly and realized she was surrounded on all sides by mirrors.

A quiet sobbing filled the air. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Weiss pivoted quickly to see Ruby curled up on the floor. Every fiber of her being revealed the psychological pain her mouth refused to say.

Weiss held out a hand to comfort her, but the floor had given way and Weiss was now falling through a black void accompanied by Ruby's soft crying.

"RUBY!" Weiss shouted at the top of her lungs as she sprang up in bed, hot tears present in the corners of her eyes.

Weiss let out an exhausted sigh and fell backwards into her pillow. Thin beams of pale sunlight shot through openings in the curtains and illuminated small flecks of dust that twirled gracefully to the ground while her tears calmly ran off of her face into her pillow. It all felt so unreal, she had finally had people there for her and now they were gone.

"I should get something to eat." Weiss muttered to herself as she slowly crawled out of bed. She grabbed a hairbrush from a nearby dresser and began to run it through her tangled hair. Weiss set the brush down and realized it was covered in strands of long gold hair. She picked up a strand of the hair and began to miss Yang's crude humor and repulsive habits. The dispute from last night wasn't entirely Weiss' fault, but she was beginning to feel like it was.

Weiss ran her fingers through her hair and brought it up into a ponytail. She retrieved her boots from under her bunk and laced them up as quickly as she could. She needed somewhere where she could think in private and this room was making it somewhat difficult. She walked over to the desk near the door and picked up her silver tiara. She started to raise it upwards, but hesitated before perching it atop her head.

"Now make sure you don't do anything foolish or disgraceful while you are away, understood?"

Weiss slowly lowered the tiara back onto the table and walked out into the hallway without looking back.

'I'll deal with this later, but for now I need something to eat.' Weiss thought, as she walked towards the cafeteria with her head held down.

The heiress came to a stop at the entrance of the cafeteria and noticed that the hall was almost completely empty. As she walked towards the currently nonexistent lunch line at the back of the room; subtle curiosity began to grow within her.

'Perhaps I overslept,' Weiss thought, already doubting the idea. 'If I overslept I'm certain I would be aware, but this is a little unusual. Maybe I should find out where everyone is.' Weiss glanced around and the only familiar face she came across belonged to a meek Faunus with a pair of large rabbit ears. 'I suppose she'll know where everyone is.'

Weiss walked up behind the girl and tapped her on the shoulder a couple of times. Velvet flinched and spun around quickly, after realizing that it was just Weiss she exhaled heavily.

"Hello, Weiss." Velvet said warmly.

"Hello Velvet, how is your morning going?"

"Fine for the most part, I was planning on doing my homework in the library, but Cardin was in there so I thought it'd be best…" She trailed off as she began to lower her gaze from Weiss and folded her arms.

Although Weiss barely knew Velvet and had only ever exchanged a couple dozen words with her, she could relate, in a sense, to how little they cared for Cardin. However she wasn't too keen to share her personal feelings on the subject.

"So, would you happen to know where everyone is about now?"

"Umm sorry, but I don't know. They could be around the school, I think."

Weiss didn't know exactly what to make of such a vague answer and Velvet didn't seem to know exactly what she was talking about either. " So… Is that Professor Oobleck's newest assignment."

"Mhmm," Velvet murmured quietly, as she wrote a couple words in small blocky handwriting.

"I didn't receive the prompt, what's the assignment?"

"He wants us to list all of Vale's natural resources and find the top fifteen imports that we receive from each of the other kingdoms. It's not very difficult I should be able to finish before noon."

"Hmm, thank you Velvet. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go get some breakfast."

Velvet stopped writing mid-sentence and turned to Weiss, obviously confused. "Umm they stopped serving breakfast at ten." Velvet said tentatively.

'Wait, if it's not before ten-'

"Velvet, what time is it?"

Velvet pulled her Scroll out of her school bag. "It's about a quarter until noon. Eleven forty-two to be exact."

'For the love of Dust.' Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head in dissatisfaction.

"Well that's just perfect." Weiss muttered under her breath as she sat down next to Velvet.

"They'll probably be bringing out lunch soon, but if you want…" Velvet began to rummage through her school bag before presenting a luscious red apple. "You can have this apple. I was going to save it for later, but you look like you need it more than I do."

"Oh, well thank you, but I think I can wait." Weiss said taken back by Velvet's unexpected generosity.

Velvet placed the apple on the table between them and continued to work on her assignment. They sat in stifling silence for a few minutes as Velvet worked and Weiss stared at the apple between them.

'Stop it. You can wait a few minutes until lunch… But she did say she didn't need it... That apple does look enticing, and it has been a few days since I've had a good apple.'

Weiss began to reach for the apple, but a sensuous and beautiful memory came to her mind.

"Hey Weiss, I saved you an apple in case you got hungry." Ruby said, as her slender fingers wrapped around a small red apple. Ruby's silver eyes looking at her eagerly as she gave her usual cheerful smile. It all seemed so strange when it started. She let her gaze linger a little too long and Ruby's attention made her giddy and warm. It was unsettling and the dreams that followed only raised more concerns. The thought that she was attracted to Ruby made her want to hide away somewhere quiet and get to the bottom of what exactly was going on.

Now that the sweet aroma of rose petals was gone she felt a strong, visceral desire for it to return.

Why? Why did she feel like this? It felt natural and wonderful, but she knew that it wasn't. She wasn't supposed to think like this, what would other people think, and more importantly what would her father think?

'People can't know about this. The closer she is the harder she makes this. But I want her here.'

"Umm Weiss, are you all right? You've been staring at that apple for a long time." Velvet asked, concern welling in her voice.

Weiss blinked absentmindedly a few times before realizing how strange she must look. Weiss cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter. "I'm fine Velvet, I was just thinking about something."Weiss looked back at the apple and relaxed a little. "Velvet,"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to go and I'm going to take the apple if you don't mind."

Velvet gave a small smile and nodded in compliance, "Not at all, have a nice day."

"You too," Weiss stood up, took the apple in her right hand, and began to walk back to her dorm staring at the apple and attempting to find the best solution to her dilemma.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weiss rolled the apple back and forth across her desk as she listened to the sound of cold rain lightly patter against the window pane. She had intended to do some homework when she got back, but there was too much on her mind and couldn't focus.

'If I spend enough time with her maybe my feelings will pass and I won't feel this way anymore. Or I could spend a lot of time with her on weekends and try and stay distant on weekdays.' Weiss continued to roll the apple, causing it to loudly fumble along. 'Maybe I could just tell her how I feel.' Weiss stopped the apple with a finger and stared at it for a long hard minute. She imagined telling Ruby why she had been acting so strange. Telling her that she had been infatuated with her for weeks, of how she hung on her every word and couldn't help but watch her when she looked away.

She imagined Ruby backing away from her, fear stretched across her face. 'She wouldn't be interested in me, she likes boys.' Ruby would tell Yang and Yang would tell everyone else in the school and she'd become a pariah. People would talk about her behind her back, her father would find out eventually and he would probably disown her and they would become a laughing stock in the corporate world, but worst of all was that Ruby would be gone. They wouldn't stay friends and this time she would lose her forever.

'That's a definite no.' Weiss thought to herself as picked up the apple and took a bite out of it. She lifted up her Scroll to see if she had any new messages. She was curious as to the whereabouts of her teammates. When she opened her scroll she almost spit out her apple when she saw that the clock said seven.

'Seven o'clock? I've spent the entire day thinking about nothing but Ruby.' Weiss thought about it for a couple moments and let out a tired sigh. 'Then again, I can't say I haven't done it before.' Weiss stood up, but her knees shook a little and forced her to lean against the desk for support. Her head throbbed painfully as she took another bite of her apple. 'I need to go eat before they stop serving dinner.'

Weiss gathered up her school supplies and began to put them into her pack as the door to the room swung open.

Ruby and Yang walked in and they were wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts that obviously didn't belong to them.

"-look how was I supposed to know they were telling me to duck?" Ruby shouted at Yang as she walked over to her suitcase and pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"When someone shouts duck, you're supposed to duck!"

"Well he could have been talking to any of us. It's basically the same thing as yelling behind you to a group of people."

"No it isn't, and even if it was most people would turn around if you yelled 'behind you'."

"Well what if it wasn't behind everyone?"

"They'd figure it out eventually.

"What on Remnant are you two even bickering about? " Weiss interrupted.

Yang gave the heiress an angry glare and crossed her arms while Ruby dropped her gaze to the floor to avoid eye contact with Weiss.

"It's not important." Yang said sternly.

Weiss shook her head and brushed off Yang's attitude. She picked up her Scroll and walked over to an electrical outlet near her bed. "So, where did you two sleep last night?"

Yang turned towards her dresser and muttered to herself in a low angry tone.

'Perhaps I should apologize.'

"Yang," Weiss said softly.

Yang let out a low grunt as she pulled a tank top out of her drawer. "What do you want?"

"I feel like I should apologize for what I said last night. It was mostly uncalled for." A faint tone of sympathy present in Weiss' voice.

Yang shoved her drawer closed with a loud thump. "What do you mean by 'mostly uncalled for'?"

'Nicely phrased, this'll make for a funny story when you get out of your inevitable coma.'

"Yang," Weiss turned to see Ruby and immediately felt a warm sensation crawl up her neck when she noticed Ruby was standing there in her bra as she pulled her jeans up her legs. Weiss averted her gaze and tried to think of something repulsive to keep herself from blushing. "Just forget it." Ruby said in an almost bitter tone.

Weiss was slightly offended by Ruby's slightly rude reply, and was now intent on starting a good-natured conversation between the three of them.

"So are you two going down to dinner right now?" Weiss asked with a warm tone.

"Weiss, we need to talk." Ruby said now fully clothed, but still refusing to look directly at Weiss. Weiss stood quietly and waited for Ruby to continue. "Weiss, over the past couple weeks you've been distant and a lot more mean than usual, and frankly we're getting tired of it. I don't know what the reason is behind it, but you're driving us crazy and I don't mean me and Yang alone. We were talking to Jaune and the gang and they've also had enough of you. I really hate to say this, but Weiss, we'd prefer it if you'd talk to us as little as possible until you stop acting like this."

The blow struck Weiss hard and there was only one way to retaliate. 'Tell her. She won't leave if you tell her.'

"I-I-…" Weiss' eyes darted between Ruby who was staring at the floor with forlorn eyes and Yang who stood to Ruby's right only making it more impossible for Weiss to say the words. All she could do was stand there stammering

Ruby picked up a red sweater from her suitcase and put it on slowly. "We'd prefer it if you didn't eat with us either." Ruby opened the door to the room and Yang walked out first followed by Ruby who paid Weiss one more glance before closing the door.

Weiss fell to her knees and raised a hand signaling Ruby to stay, but it was too late.

"I-I- I like you." Weiss whispered quietly.


	14. Chapter 14

Dim rays of light seeped through the frosty windows and landed softly upon Weiss' pale face. Save for her, the room was completely devoid of life; the only sound emanated from the soft patter of rain landing on the windows. She had been awake for quite some time but was unable to muster the courage to crawl out of bed and come face to face with Ruby. She decided to feign sleep while the others prepared for class and didn't decide to "awake" until the others had head down for breakfast; inevitably leaving Weiss in the all too familiar silence.

'You deserve this for the way you treated them. For the way you treated her.' Weiss buried her face in her pillow in an attempt to evade her own thoughts. 'You're a fool to think that she would ever want to be with you. I mean seriously you met her a few months ago and you genuinely thought you had a chance. I wonder what father would think if he heard about this.' Hot tears began to flood Weiss' eyes but she brushed them onto her pillow and swung her legs out from under the covers.

"I should get ready for class." Weiss said quietly. She took a few steps towards her luggage and quickly realized her uniform had been folded and placed on top of one of the suitcases along with a fresh pair of socks and her school shoes. While she was wondering who set aside her uniform a second thought arose; how did she get into bed last night?

A few things weren't adding up but she didn't have time to think about this, she had to get ready and eat breakfast before class started. Weiss sighed and began to remove her jacket and dress. A multitude of insecurities and questions began to buzz through her mind as she slipped into fresh underwear. The thought of sitting next to Ruby in professor Port's class arose and it filled her with fear and sadness. Weiss tried to think alternatively as she began to change into her uniform.

'Maybe Ruby will have a change of heart. If she does I'll probably be able to explain myself. Ruby is forgiving. She'll probably forgive me.' Weiss pulled out a mirror and a hairbrush. 'It's almost funny that you think she'll just forgive you that easy. After the way you treated her and Yang she's never going to forgive you.' Weiss paused for a moment; her hair still entwined in the hairbrush's bristles.

"This is all my fault." Weiss said softly. She slowly lowered the hairbrush to her side and looked in the mirror. Her hands began to tremble as she stared into her own eyes. She looked so innocent, but felt so guilty. 'Why is my happiness wrong? Why can't i just be myself?!'

Weiss let out a scream of rage and hurled the mirror at the wall.

Weiss dropped the brush to the ground and stood against her own pessimism defiantly. She had to do something. She wasn't entirely sure how or what she was going to do but she had to do something. A surge of pain began to flow through her head causing her to stagger a little. Weiss hadn't had a proper meal in over a day and it was beginning to affect her. She stumbled over to her desk and began to pack up her school supplies. While she was putting away her papers she quickly realized that she hadn't completed Professor Port's essay.

Weiss let out an exhausted sigh as she lifted her schoolbag and walked out of the dorm. "Please Dust, let this be over quickly."

The sound of rain hitting the windows was barely audible over the chatter of the students scattered throughout the cafeteria. It was usually quiet on Mondays, but Weiss wasn't completely sure that it may have been its usual volume and her headache may have been getting worse. As she made her way across the cafeteria it felt like her brain was trying to escape as it throbbed against her skull with a nauseating rhythm. When she finally made it to the breakfast line there was a very small amount of food left and she'd just have to bear through the morning with a small portion of eggs, some slightly burnt toast, and a bruised apple.

After grabbing her pitiful meal, which could have passed as a five star meal right now, Weiss swallowed her fear and began to walk towards the table where her friends usually sat.

'Maybe they've changed their minds. It won't hurt to check. I mean seriously, what's the worst that can happen?' She tried to tell herself with an air of nonchalance as her heart pounded against her rib cage.

Weiss began to slowly and reluctantly trudge across the cafeteria. Each passing second felt like a millennium, and the closer she came the weaker she felt. A voice of reason rose up in her and told her to walk away before she came any closer, but it was too late. There she sat with a tired and hollow expression, pushing food around on her plate. Weiss wanted to rush to her side and beg for forgiveness, but all she could do was stare at Ruby. It wasn't long before a certain blonde noticed her standing there and gave Ruby a nudge while whispering something into her ear.

Ruby turned slightly and gave Weiss a fleeting glance. Her eyes were cold and pitiful; Weiss opened her mouth to say something but she had already turned away. Weiss looked around the table for some form of response, but all of her friends had their heads bowed in silence, except Blake who was looking over her shoulder at the exiled heiress.

Weiss' entire body had begun to tremble; she took a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself before slowly backing away from the group. The solemn image of Ruby looking back at her had become imprinted in Weiss' mind. The very thought of Ruby's decrepit emotional state made her sick to her stomach.

'You make her miserable. It's no wonder they don't want you there.' Weiss thought as she set her tray down at an empty table. She could feel the watchful eyes of random students, but they felt so irrelevant compared to the way Ruby looked at her.

Ruby was gone; all that was left was the memories of when they were nothing more than friends. Weiss just wanted to lay her head down on the table and let the world around her crumble away. As Weiss began to slowly lower her head towards the table the soft sound of a food tray being placed on the table rang through her ears. She turned her head slightly to see Blake taking the seat to her right.

"Hi Weiss." Blake said softly, watching the heiress with concerned eyes. Weiss remained completely quiet, "I like what you're doing with your hair today." Blake said, forcing a smile.

Weiss didn't understand, she raised a hand to her head and quickly realized that she didn't put her hair into a ponytail. "Oh," Weiss cleared her throat and sat up a little "I must've forgotten. I've been… preoccupied."

Blake gave a small sigh and let her fake smile fade away, "Look Weiss I know things have taken a turn for the worse, but I still think you can make this right."

"How do you figure that?" Weiss asked unenthusiastically.

"Well I know for a fact that you still haven't told Ruby how you feel."

"How do you know that?" Weiss raised an eyebrow

"Because I talked to them this morning about what's been going on. According to way they were acting I figured you didn't tell them and the fact that I found you collapsed on the floor was also a pretty good indicator."

"I was going to tell her, but Yang was there." Weiss said shamefully.

"That's what I thought." Blake said flatly before lifting a fork full of eggs into her mouth. "Weiss, things aren't going to change unless you do something and I think your best option is to tell her the truth."

Weiss stared at the table and tried to imagine what could happen if she came clean. Meeting a flurry of negative possibilities she decided against it, "Maybe it's for the better if I just keep it to myself." Weiss said timidly.

"Better for whom?" Blake said bitterly, "Everyone is miserable right now because you're keeping this to yourself. I'm on your side Weiss, but you're the only one who can change anything right now." Blake stood up and began to walk away from the table.

'Just let her walk away. Be a good girl Weiss and try and put all of this behind you.' Weiss balled her hands into fists. 'NO!'

"Blake wait," Weiss said without averting her gaze from the table. Blake stopped and turned to Weiss with a curious expression. Weiss looked up from the table and took a breath. "I want to tell her, but I have to meet her alone."

"Okay." Blake said, concern and optimism both very apparent in her expression.

"Ruby doesn't want to talk to me though," Weiss paused for a moment "Can you ask her to meet with me?"

"Where do you want to meet?"

Weiss had not put much thought into where exactly she wanted to meet Ruby, and now that she was put on the spot her burst of confidence was beginning to fade.

'Come on think. It needs to be somewhere secluded but somewhere Ruby knows about. Wait… The oak garden!'

"Tell her to meet me in the oak garden over near the left wing at 8 o'clock." Weiss said quickly.

"Okay." Blake paused for a second and watched Weiss with concern. "Hey Weiss, are you sure you're ready to tell her?"

Just like that the fear and insecurities had begun to rear their heads once again. Weiss wrapped her arms around herself and took a breath.

"Yes…"

'…Even if it kills me she has to know.'


	15. Chapter 15

Weiss tried to steady her breathing as she slowly walked towards the oak garden. Her entire day passed by like a hazy dream. She was barely able to focus in class as she counted every passing minute and dreaded that the day was passing so quickly. She still hadn't figured out what she was going to say to Ruby, and couldn't help but picture Ruby's repulsed expression as she told her about her unnatural attraction to her.

'Things will be fine. Ruby will be able to handle this, she's mature.' Weiss stopped in place for a minute to clarify what she had just thought. She put her hand to her forehead to check if she was running a fever. After confirming that she wasn't delirious she let out a sigh, lowered her hand and kept walking, 'What am I thinking? That dunce is anything but mature. She's childish and loud and carefree and energetic and cheerful and nice and pretty and- FOCUS!' Weiss shook her head and tried to pretend her mind had not wandered so far.

'You should start off by apologizing.' Weiss thought to herself. 'You saw how depressed she was earlier, she deserves a proper apology. If I'm really going to fix things with Ruby, I'll have to give a proper apology to Yang as well.' Weiss could only imagine having to deal with Yang's bitter attitude. 'It wouldn't have become this bad if I had said something sooner.'

Weiss took a step off of the stone pathway and began to walk through the crisp, wet grass. The evening was overcast and chilly as the sun began to hang low on the horizon. Large wall-like hedges came into view, towering ominously over the plain grass. She walked through the entrance and bypassed a second privacy hedge before taking in the full view of the Oak garden.

A single large oak tree rested at the center of the garden; it grew high over the hedges and its branches reached to the farthest ends of the garden, cloaking the area in shadows. A few flat stone benches were scattered around under the oak; like the grass around them they were covered in dead leaves. Weiss walked to the nearest bench and lightly brushed the leaves away for a proper place to sit.

Weiss stared blankly at the dew covered grass while patiently waiting for Ruby to arrive. She began to wonder if it was too late to turn back; to run back to the dorm and ask Blake to cover her with some harebrain excuse. The sun had begun to set as she pulled out her Scroll and saw that she had seven minutes left before 8 o'clock.

'No, I need to tell her. It's the only way to make things right.' Weiss thought sternly. She took a few deep breaths and looked around the garden. A gentle breeze blew a few leaves off of the oak and whisked them off into the night sky. The air was slowly growing colder and it was only making Weiss' wait more unbearable. Weiss looked down at her Scroll and saw that only a minute had passed. 'Why can't time move faster? This is important.' Weiss thought to herself.

Weiss turned her gaze upwards towards the sky; she immediately noticed a large hole in the oak's thick canopy of branches. The night sky was blocked by a thick layer of clouds, but Weiss still searched for a glimmering speck of hope amongst the clouds. It was like staring into an infinite black sea of hopelessness; there wasn't a single break in the clouds and whatever Weiss was looking for she wasn't going to find it.

A small breeze took hold of Weiss' hair and whipped it around wildly. Weiss' entire body shook and shivered as what originally appeared to be a pleasant night became bitter and cold. She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep warm.

She pulled her hands away from her torso and began to quickly rub them together for warmth. She cursed the cold under her breath and pulled out her Scroll to figure out how much longer until 8. When the small clock became illuminated Weiss froze in place.

In solid white letters the clock read "8:01". 'You're out of time; Ruby will be here any second.' Weiss' eyes darted to the entrance of the garden, fearfully awaiting Ruby's arrival. As Weiss stared at the bend in the hedges, her chest growing heavier, a chilling thought crossed her mind. 'What if she's not coming?'

The clock ticked to "8:02", 'This is it; she's given up on you. She's not coming.' Weiss began to tremble as her blood began to freeze.

The clock ticked to "8:03". Tears began to flood into Weiss' eyes. 'She's gone. I'm all alone.' Weiss turned the screen off as hot tears began to run down her pale face.

The garden was only filled with the whistle of the breeze and Weiss' soft whimpering, until the sound of crunching leaves could be heard from the entrance of the garden. Weiss turned quickly to see Ruby standing at the entrance.

Weiss stood up quickly and ran her sleeve over her face a few times. When she looked back to Ruby through sore eyes she was met with a concerned but gloomy expression.

"Are you alright, Weiss?" Ruby said softly.

"I-I'm fine." Weiss said softly, still trying to straighten herself out.

"Well I thought I heard you crying and you don't look alright."

"I was-" Weiss stopped; she stared at Ruby for a few long seconds and took a breath. "Ruby, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all of this." Tears began to flow back into Weiss' eyes, "I'm sorry about hurting you and Yang and everyone else! I never wanted to hurt you but- but-" Weiss was trying to force the words out but they were stuck in her throat. She tried to steady her breathing in hopes of getting her words out, but Ruby had begun to walk towards her.

Weiss could only stammer as Ruby came closer. It was only a matter of seconds before she was an arm's length away. Ruby came in close to Weiss and pulled her into a hug.

Weiss could only describe the hug as pure ecstasy. Weiss' breathing slowed as she let the warmth of the young huntress flow over her and cure her from her frozen sorrow. Weiss rested her head on Ruby's shoulder and was immediately welcomed by the sweet smell of roses.

"It's alright, Weiss." Ruby whispered softly, "I forgive you." Ruby said as she continued to squeeze Weiss. Ruby began to pull out of the hug but remained a considerably short distance away from Weiss. Ruby wore a small, compassionate smile and tears were visible in the corners of her eyes as she stared at Weiss warmly. "Do you wanna go back to the dorm? I'll make some hot chocolate and we can talk about the rest of this inside. Y'know inside, out of the cold." Ruby said sincerely trying to hold back her pure excitement while gesturing in the direction of the dorms.

Weiss began to think about how nice that sounded, but she came here for a reason and she still hadn't said what she needed to say.

"Ruby, I need to tell you something." Ruby's look of pure excitement faded away quickly and was replaced by a look of confusion.

"Okay."

"Ruby I-"

The words of Weiss' father shot through her mind. "Don't do anything foolish or disgraceful while you are away, understood?"

"-I-"

She could barely believe in herself, 'You're a fool to think she'd ever want to be with you.'

"-I-"

Blake's words echoed in her mind, "Weiss… be honest with yourself"

Weiss' mouth was as dry as paper, her mouth refused to cooperate, and Ruby just stood there staring at her in confusion. She looked so innocent and naïve to what was actually going on inside Weiss' head.

Weiss took a step forward and narrowed the gap between her and Ruby. 'I'm not going to be able to tell her.' Weiss realized as she looked into Ruby's eyes. Weiss took a second step towards Ruby, placing herself face to face with the young girl. Weiss began to lean in close to Ruby, the sweet smell of roses hanging fresh around Ruby. Weiss thoughts were now being drown out by Ruby's soft breathing; the only thought that remained in Weiss' mind was the idea of how she could show Ruby how she felt.

She slowly closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Ruby's. Her lips were soft but completely stiff as she stood there in utter shock. Weiss wanted to savor the moment, but decided it was better if she pulled away quickly. No matter how short or how awkward the moment to Weiss it was the pinnacle of her life. Her face felt hot she wanted to smile with pride but Ruby's expression of shock and confusion brought her back to reality.

Weiss cleared her throat, "Look Ruby I-"

"Bu-bu-bu-bu w-w- why?"

Weiss gave a sigh, "Ruby, I didn't know how to tell you so I…" Weiss gestured back and forth between the two of them while trying to avoid direct eye contact.

"But but… Why?!" Ruby shouted returning to her loud and bashful nature.

"Ruby, I like you… a lot. It started a few weeks ago and it's why I've been a little more... difficult, than usual."

Ruby began to walk back and forth with one hand trying to support her head and the other drawing invisible lines. "So- But…- Why… Aww this is confusing." Ruby lurched forward a little causing Weiss to extend her hand in assistance. Ruby flinched causing Weiss to take a step backwards. Ruby reached towards Weiss a little but retracted her hand hesitantly.

"No Weiss, I-" Ruby gave an exhausted sigh, "Weiss, I need to think about this. You're my best friend and this is… a lot. I don't know what to say! Weiss, I need to do some thinking…" Ruby turned and began to trudge away from Weiss towards the exit of the oak garden.

Weiss could only stare completely powerless as the person she cared about the most walked away. Weiss walked over towards the bench and sat down.

'Well, it seems we're alone again.'

'No,' Weiss thought to herself 'She'll come back…' Weiss felt something cold began to melt upon her hand. She looked down and saw a small fleck of snow upon her hand. She turned her head upwards and saw thousands of tiny flecks of snow drifting through the night sky.

'… Eventually.'


End file.
